06/12/2026
Good info to know. These little guys will not be aggressive if you let them be., and they’re ferocious spider hunters, now that’s a win!
Sorry about the ugly mud tubes on your siding. I am not the wasp you are afraid of.
I know what you think when you see them. Wasp nest. Colony. Swarm. Stings. None of that is me.
I am a mud dauber — a solitary wasp. I have no colony, no workers, no queen to defend. There is one of me. I built these mud tubes alone, one trip at a time, carrying wet mud in my jaws.
Each finished tube is a nursery. Inside, I seal a spider I have caught and a single egg. When my larva hatches, the spider is its first meal. The spiders I hunt are often the ones you would rather not meet yourself.
I am about the least aggressive wasp in your yard. I have no nest of young to guard the way a yellowjacket does, so I almost never sting — it takes real effort to provoke me.
If the empty tubes bother you, knock them down in winter once they are vacant. I will not be there, and I will not defend them. Through the summer, just let me work. I am clearing your walls of spiders for free. Create a collage image
