#nearctic blue mud dauber wasp

[onenicebugperday]

what could this thing be 🤔 from chicago

A friend! And a pal :')

It's a thread-waisted wasp in the family Sphecidae, probably a nearctic blue mud dauber.

[shownumetal]

holli keeps finding mud daubers around the house and today it was my turn

[backyardentomologist]

A Blue Mud Wasp, also known as the nearctic blue mud-dauber, takes a quick break on a milkweed leaf. Mud daubers are solitary wasps, meaning that they live on their own, and get their name from their use of mud in the construction of their nests. These nests often resemble tiny clay pots, and it is not unusual to see mud daubers busily collecting mud from open dirt following a rain storm.

While blue mud daubers can (and do) build their own nests, they prefer to steal the nests of other wasps and bees, especially nests made by other species of mud dauber.

While mud daubers primarily eat nectar from flowers, they also predate on spiders, using their powerful stingers to paralyze their prey. Different species of mud dauber have different hunting styles, and as a result will target specific species of spider.

The blue mud dauber is famous for its predation of the extremely dangerous black widow spider, which is one of only two species of spider in North America that is capable of killing a human.

[celestialmacros]

Nearctic Blue Mud-dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum)

July 26, 2018

Southeastern Pennsylvania

[bugsoupforthesoul]

Nearctic Blue Mud-Dauber OR Steel Blue Cricket wasp

(Chalybion californicum / Chlorion aerarium)

A lovely, weirdly friendly dark blue wasp carrying… something? into her nest behind the power box.

[onenicebugperday]

I was wondering if anyone had some information on a species of wasp thats a sapphire blue color? I saw one on my windowsill in Georgia, USA !! I looked it up and it seems to be a friendlier species but I’m curious if anyone knew anything funky :0 (I’m sorry, I didn’t manage to get a picture! I hope this is enough information to pin something down <3)

I would imagine either the nearctic blue mud dauber or the steel-blue cricket-hunter! In order of mention:

Photos by bob15noble and greglasley

If not those then maybe a metallic bluish-green cuckoo wasp, though they tend to be more green than blue:

Photo by sambiology

[onenicebugperday]

@vespertinecat​ submitted: My friend and I found this sadly deceased fellow in her house up in central New Jersey. We were wondering what it is and were stunned by how beautifully iridescent it is! My photos barely did it justice. This was the best one that showed its blueish sheen.

Looks like a nearctic blue mud dauber wasp, as far as I can tell from this photo. They can be super blue, yes! Here’s a photo where you can see the iridescence:

Photo by bob15noble

[onenicebugperday]

@pusheen-loves-food​ submitted: Do you know what this dude is? Found in Oregon, USA. Been seeing them a lot recently, but this year is the first I've seen of them. Thanks!

Looks like probably a nearctic blue mud dauber wasp. Love their metallic blue color!

[onenicebugperday]

@biitumen submitted: My husband got this nice photo of some kind of wasp friend? And I got p nice footage of this little buddy doing a scrupulous job of self cleaning PNW we would love ids if possible

The first dude is prooobably a nearctic blue mud dauber, but I suppose could be a great black digger wasp since those are making their way farther north. And the very fastidious wasp is a yellowjacket, but there are several different species in your area that are difficult to tell apart so I can’t say which exactly without comparing to a bunch of photos.

[onenicebugperday]

@nonbinaryezrabridger submitted: Hello, I saw you just reblogged a photo of an iridescent blue wasp (tagged as steel blue cricket hunter wasp)

I am currently at a farm ( location is [removed], please remove) where we have wasps that look similar and I have been trying to ID them. I haven’t been able to get any photos but I do have a dead one. It has curly antenna like I saw the cricket hunter does. When they fly they have legs that sort of drag behind them.

The reason I’m not sure if it is the cricket hunter wasp is my professor told me that these wasps are beneficial insects that parasitize cabbage worms (very annoying pest!). Do you know enough to help me tell which is which? Is it possible that it is the cricket hunter but they also take cabbage worms? Or is it a different wasp that just looks similar?

Thanks for your great blog! I’ve learned a lot :)

Hi there! So the steel blue cricket hunter wasp, as the name implies, hunts crickets to take back to its nest to feed its young. They look very similar to the nearctic blue mud dauber wasp, which hunts spiders to bring back to its young. Both are native and beneficial, but they don’t hunt or parasitize caterpillars. There are, however, plenty of wasp species who do! Potter and mason wasps in particular often hunt caterpillars to bring to their nests, and there are lots of species of braconid wasps that will parasitize caterpillars. These are the ones who lay eggs in or on the caterpillar and their young eat the caterpillar from the inside out. One example is the hornworm parasitoid wasp which many people are familiar with because of the photos of their cocoons hanging on the backs of hornworms. (Photos here - not for the faint of heart!) Parasitoid wasps are almost always much smaller than the big mud daubers we see flying around, and you likely wouldn’t notice them.

[onenicebugperday]

@spork-rat​ submitted: This was unfortunately the only picture I got of my buggy friend I found tonight in [removed] (please remove location) but if it's not too much trouble I'm curious about what they might be? Looked wasp-y in shape and had a beautiful iridescent blue on them. Thank you!! (Also yes they were momentarily put in a medicine bottle to handle safely until I found them a nice spot outside)

Definitely a wasp! I’d need better photos to ID it properly, but I’d say most likely either a nearctic blue mud dauber or a steel blue cricket hunter :)

[onenicebugperday]

@victoryleaf submitted: some bugs from my hike today! not sure on the species for these, but a dung beetle (first) and aquatic isopod (last). it’s gotten warmer here in arkansas, and being outside in the afternoon sun has brought some much needed peace and much loved bugs :)

Thank goodness it’s getting warmer so we can all see some bug friends!! These ones are especially nice. I imagine the dung beetle is a Carolina copris but I’d need to see it closer to say. A very lovely thread-waisted wasp but I’m not sure which one that is either without a closer look. Nearctic blue mud dauber? Great black digger? Neither? Depends on if it has a blue sheen on the body or wings or both. That isopod tho!!! So tiny and long. Would die for them... genus Caecidotea probably I think. Thanks for sharing your friends! :))

[onenicebugperday]

-Heather @lasagnawteeth​ submitted: Hello there :-) I was just scrolling through your blog (like I do everyday lol) and your post about “nearctic blue mud dauber wasps” reminded me of this little fella that I saw hanging out in my backyard the other day! Is this the same kind of wasp? 

Hello! Thanks for letting me know this dude was found in Oregon. They actually look more like a steel-blue cricket hunter to me! Their metallic blue coloring is different than the nearctic blue mud dauber.