nd even outer surface. Each inner cell is provided with several insect larvae or paralyzed spiders that the adult female has collected. A single egg is then deposited in each cell and the hatching wasp larvae complete their development on the provided prey. These wasps are much less aggressive than solitary forms, as they do not protect their nest. About the only way someone could be stung by one of these wasps is by accidentally stepping on or carelessly handling one, which seem very unlikely.
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber- Sceliphron caementarium. This is solitary insects that build nests out of mud in sheltered locations, frequently on man-made structures such as bridges, barns, open porches or under the eaves of houses. These nests are not aggressively defended, and stings are rare.
Black and Yellow Mud Dauber.
The black and yellow mud dauber's nest comprises a series of cylindrical cells that are plastered over to form a smooth nest that may attain nearly the size of a human fist. After building a cell, the female wasp captures several spiders. The captured prey are stung and paralyzed before being placed in the nest, and then a single egg is deposited on the prey within each cell. The wasp then seals the cell with mud. After finishing a series of cells, she leaves and does not return. Eventually, the hatching larva will eat the prey and emerge from the nest. A common species of cuckoo wasp, Chrysis angolensis, is frequently a cleptoparasite (steals they prey by laying its eggs on it)in Sceliphron nests, and is only one of many different insects that parasitize these mud daubers.
There are some 30 other species of Sceliphron that occur throughout the world, though in appearance and habits they are quite similar to S. caementarium. S. caementarium is widespread in Canada, the United States, Central America, South Africa and the West Indies, and has been introduced to many Pacific Islands (including Australia, Hawaii andJapan), Peru and Europe , where it has become established in the western Mediterranean Basin.