
Organ Pipe Mud Dauber-Trypoxylon politum. These are fairly large wasps, shiny black with pale hind tarsi. Male organ pipe mud daubers are among the few male wasps of any species to stay at the nest. A male "stands guard" (to prevent theft of prey or nest materials, as well as to ward off parasites while a female is away collecting spiders. Mating typically occurs on her visits to the nest. They typically build their nests in sheltered locations, and large aggregations may form with dozens to hundreds of nests in a small area. The shape of their nest is the derivation of their common name.
Organ Pipe Mud Dauber, Nests and Parasitized Spiders M0ved from Nest. Images Courtesy or Pollinator.
Organ pipe mud daubers are also an exceedingly docile species of wasp, and generally pleasant to have around, as they serve to keep spider populations down. Stings to humans are very rare, bordering on non-existent, although if squeezed, they will sting in self-defense. There are a great many other species in the genus Trypoxylon (over 700 of them worldwide), mostly smaller in size and less abundant.
Sphecius speciosus-Cicada Killer. Cicada killer wasps are large, solitary wasps. The name may be applied to any species which uses cicadas as prey, though in North America it is typically applied to a single species, Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as "The cicada killer". However, since there are multiple species of related wasps, it is more appropriate to call it the Eastern pr Western cicada killers. These species occurs in the eastern, western and Midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them. In North America they are sometimes called sand hornets, although they are not hornets, which belong to the family Vespidae.
Adult Eastern and Western cicada killer wasps are large, 1.5 to 5 cm (2/3 to 2 inches) long, robust wasps with hairy, reddish and black areas on the thorax (middle part), and are black to reddish brown marked wi