Organ pipe mud dauber

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Organ-pipe mud dauber

New organ pipe wasp nest showing different muds gathered at different places

Scientific classification

Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Crabronidae
Genus:	Trypoxylon
Species:	T. politum

Binomial name

Trypoxylon politum
Drury, 1773

The organ pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) is a type of wasp in the family Crabronidae. They 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 warding off parasites) while a female is away collecting spiders, and 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.

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.