19 replies to this topic

[Connectimyrmex]

Hi!
 

Yesterday, when I was walking my dog, I found a small abandoned-looking Mud Dauber nest. I occasionally crack open abandoned mud dauber nests to look for small founding colonies of Cardiocondyla, so I decided to crack that one open. When I did, to my surprise, a few caterpillars tumbled out. Upon closer inspection, there was a tiny little wasp larva sitting atop one of the caterpillars. I took him/her along with her food home and placed her in a test tube (I couldn't just let the larva die!). He/she is eating one of the caterpillars as I type. Has anyone ever raised one of these?

 

Also, the gender of this little guy can't be determined at the moment. Solitary wasps don't have female workers, so there is also a high chance of getting a male mud dauber.

 

 

 

-Note: Mud Daubers are wasps

[gcsnelling]

Do you know which mud dauber species?

[drtrmiller]

It would be pretty cool to put them in a small diameter test tube so you could observe it devouring the spiders caterpillars.

Edit: Stupidly overlooked what insects the larvae were consuming.

Edited by drtrmiller, December 18 2016 - 2:29 PM.

[Alabama Anter]

wow pretty cool

[Kevin]

wow pretty cool

Once again, this provides no useful information to the thread. Please stop posting these toxic comments.

[gcsnelling]

 

wow pretty cool

Once again, this provides no useful information to the thread. Please stop posting these toxic comments.

 

I see no reason to call the post toxic and even though there is no information in the post it does indicate the poster is interested. If you feel the post is not relevant there is no need for you to comment.

Now back on topic the reason I asked about the species of mud dauber is that as drtrmiller mentioned the common species use spiders but caterpillars were mentioned as the food item.

[Annexis]

I believe the larva will avoid eating the vital organs so that the caterpillar will survive, and it will use the caterpillar as a host until it is ready to become a wasp. I would let the caterpillar live normally... tbh

[Connectimyrmex]

Those comments were fine!

 

Also, it is a caterpillar Mud Dauber. It's nest is shaped like a small vase.

 

It has eaten one of the caterpillar's legs. Pretty gruesome if you ask me!

 

I believe that some species use caterpillars as their food source.

Edited by Hawaiiant, December 18 2016 - 2:29 PM.

[gcsnelling]

Ah ok probably, Subfamily Eumeninae Genus Delta de Saussure.

[Alabama Anter]

We have a bunch of Mud Daubers in AL, and yes they do use caterpillars of all sorts to feed their young. They will actually cocoon themselves when ready to emerge again as a Mud Dauber. If I am incorrect please tell me but in my knowledge doesn't the mother Mud Dauber visit every so often and deposit food inside?

Kevin, your post didn't have ANY relevance either, and in my opinion, more toxic then my post.

[gcsnelling]

This perfectly illustrates the problems with the use of common names. The mud daubers I always think of are Sceliphron caementarium, the black and yellow mud dauber. They and other members of the genus also make mud nests and provision them with spiders. The mud nesting habit is spread through several subfamilies and the nest provisioning is variable as well.

[Connectimyrmex]

We have a bunch of Mud Daubers in AL, and yes they do use caterpillars of all sorts to feed their young. They will actually cocoon themselves when ready to emerge again as a Mud Dauber. If I am incorrect please tell me but in my knowledge doesn't the mother Mud Dauber visit every so often and deposit food inside?

From what I know of mud daubers, they just stock up the nests and leave. If my baby wasp runs out of food, though, I can always paralyze an inchworm and feed it to the baby .

 

Also, apparently a friend has a pet mud dauber female (caught from a nest with caterpillars too). If my larva is male, then I guess I can breed it with his wasp!

[Leo]

i killed a female broke the nest and found a solenopsis queen inside once

[T.C.]

I have literally kept around 100 different insect species, so it is no surprise I have kept these as well. I had found three of these nests cleaning the garage. There is no adult bees from my experience, they are fed off of the food put in the nest by there parents. The one I busted open, to find a bunch of these maggots squirming around. However the most amazing part was spiders tucked into these chambers, next chamber over was these beetle looking larvae in there own seperate chamber. Rather than believing these insects had the know how to seperate the different insect specimens they caught, I thought that maybe these insects choices perhaps just were not abundant at the same time, so perhaps all the spiders came first and then the larvae looking things were caught second. Anyways I put the other two in seperate jars, one of the nests nothing ever became of it. None of the mud daubers ever emerged from this nest. However the nest in jar 2, one of them did emerge. Unfortunately I was not home to see it emerge, so all I got to see was a mud dauber crawling along the glass jar wall, and a hole in the mud nest.

 

Hope this helps!

[AnthonyP163]

I have literally kept around 100 different insect species, so it is no surprise I have kept these as well. I had found three of these nests cleaning the garage. There is no adult bees from my experience, they are fed off of the food put in the nest by there parents. The one I busted open, to find a bunch of these maggots squirming around. However the most amazing part was spiders tucked into these chambers, next chamber over was these beetle looking larvae in there own seperate chamber. Rather than believing these insects had the know how to seperate the different insect specimens they caught, I thought that maybe these insects choices perhaps just were not abundant at the same time, so perhaps all the spiders came first and then the larvae looking things were caught second. Anyways I put the other two in seperate jars, one of the nests nothing ever became of it. None of the mud daubers ever emerged from this nest. However the nest in jar 2, one of them did emerge. Unfortunately I was not home to see it emerge, so all I got to see was a mud dauber crawling along the glass jar wall, and a hole in the mud nest.
 
Hope this helps!

I found a mud dauber nest, but my mom said that I couldn't keep it, for I already had too many animals XD maybe this summer will open up opportunities for me to keep insects other than slugs and ants.

[Connectimyrmex]

That really helps!

Also, Anthony, try convincing your mom by telling her that the wasps eat garden pests (Caterpillars!).

 

 

Or just put all of your related slugs in the same enclosure and say that you now have space for more! 

[AnthonyP163]

It could be this.

Sceliphron caementarium - Black and yellow mud dauber. They mostly like caterpillars and spiders.

Mostly around the world, but also Hawaii.

Edited by AnthonyP163, December 20 2016 - 6:57 AM.

[T.C.]

That really helps!

Also, Anthony, try convincing your mom by telling her that the wasps eat garden pests (Caterpillars!).

 

 

Or just put all of your related slugs in the same enclosure and say that you now have space for more! 

Caterpillars are the third funnest insect species to keep, I really don't like you talking about killing them! lol

[gcsnelling]

 

That really helps!

Also, Anthony, try convincing your mom by telling her that the wasps eat garden pests (Caterpillars!).

 

 

Or just put all of your related slugs in the same enclosure and say that you now have space for more! 

Caterpillars are the third funnest insect species to keep, I really don't like you talking about killing them! lol

 

 

I trust you realize that caterpillars are not a species but part of an order of insects.

[Connectimyrmex]

Probs Black and Yellow Mud Dauber. The other day I saw one of those wasps flying around and mass murdering spidermen. (spiders)