Mud Dauber Mysteries

The female mud dauber packs the nest with paralyzed spiders for food for the nymphs.

I noticed that a mud dauber had made some nests on the side of my house. I knew nothing more about them than their name, that they used mud to construct their dwellings and that they weren’t much of a nuisance. Still, I wanted to remove the mud nests. I had never seen a mud dauber or knew what it looked like, so I decided to find out. I began by carefully opening a nest to sneak a peek. Was I in for a surprise.

As I began prying open the bottom, a rapid buzzing noise caught me by surprise and suddenly a large dark metallic blue creature quickly exited the mud tube and flew away.

I continued to remove small pieces of mud, keeping a watchful eye in case the dauber returned agitated. As I removed more mud, I noticed that the long tube was divided into chambers. When I removed a chamber wall, out fell several spiders.  A few were barely moving. In the same chamber was a white larva with a yellow head - a baby (nymph) mud dauber. The spiders were its food supply.

The Organ Pipe Mud Dauber gets its name from the mud tube nests it builds resembling a pipe organ.

This particular species of mud dauber is called the “organ pipe” mud dauber. The name comes from the several long tubes of mud resembling a pipe organ. The female of this species collects spiders to feed its young. The male mud dauber remains close to the nest to protect it from predators and parasites. Where was the male in this case? I have no idea – unless it was he who exited rapidly when I began my examination of the mud tubes.

The female will sting spiders in such a way that it paralyzes them temporarily, allowing her to fly the spider back to the mud nest, packing it in a chamber with other spiders – but only spiders. Why only spiders? I don’t know.

 

Cocoon of developing mud dauber.

Two mud dauber larvae from two cocoons.

As I dug deeper, I discovered a dark brown cocoon in the last chamber. I removed the  brittle cocoon casing exposing another larva. However, this one would no longer be interested in spiders. It was preparing to metamorphosis into an adult, but it still had a long way to go. It takes all winter for that to happen. When it does, the adult will chew its way through the mud nest and begin a life of its own.

Now, I'm curious to see how the female mud dauber gets close enough to a spider to immobilize without getting caught in the sticky web

For more information about the Organ Pipe Mud Dauber click on  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organ_pipe_mud_dauber