Blue mud dauber

Blue mud dauber
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Sphecidae
Genus: Chalybion
Species: C. californicum
Binomial name
Chalybion californicum
(Saussure, 1867) [1]
Synonyms [1]
  • Pelopeus californicus Saussure, 1867
  • Sphex caeruleus Linnaeus, 1763
  • Sphex cyaneus Fabricius, 1775

The blue mud dauber (Chalybion californicum) is a metallic blue species of mud dauber wasp that is the primary predator of black widow spiders.[2] Females build their own nests, but occasionally refurbish nests abandoned by other mud dauber wasps, particularly Sceliphron.[3] It is not normally aggressive.[2] It is similar in shape and colour to the steel-blue cricket hunter (Chlorion aerarium). Like other types of wasps, males do not have an ovipositor, therefore cannot sting.

References

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  1. 1 2 Day, M. C. (1979). "The species of Hymenoptera described by Linnaeus in the genera Sphex, Chrysis, Vespa, Apis and Mutilla". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society. 12 (1): 45–84. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00049.x Freely accessible.
  2. 1 2 Drees, Bastiaan M.; Jackman, John A. (1999). "Mud Daubers". Field Guide to Texas Insects. Gulf Publishing Company. ISBN 978-0-87719-263-3. Archived from the original on 12 July 2007. Retrieved 10 July 2007.
  3. ↑ "Species Chalybion californicum – Blue Mud Wasp". BugGuide. Department of Entomology, Iowa State University. 10 June 2017. Retrieved 1 July 2017.
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