Subfamily Sceliphroninae - Mud-dauber Wasps
Family Sphecidae
This page contains pictures and information about Mud-dauber Wasps in Sceliphroninae that we found in the Brisbane area, Queensland, Australia.
- Wasps in Sceliphroninae build mud cell nest and provisioned the young with spiders. They have very long and slender petioles. They are the true mud-dauber, building their nest with moist clay in hollow tree-trunks, sheltered part of rocks or on walls of houses. Different species look similar but the nest they build are looked quite different.
- Vase-cell Mud-dauber Wasp
- Sceliphron formosum, body length 22mm
- Some wasps build nests with pellets of mud. Those are individual cells in rows built by Mud-Dauber Wasps. They are very common around Brisbane in sheltered locations. If a cell is opened, you may find a wasp larva, together with some spiders which are the larva's foods. They are collected by the mother wasp. We opened one cell and recorded the development of a wasp from larva. Details please click on here.
- Covered-cell Mud-dauber Wasp
- Sceliphron laetum, body length 22mm
- We found those mud cells that we believed they are belong to the Mud-dauber Wasp Sceliphron laetum. However, we did not ever confirm seeing one S. laetum yet. Please check this page for more details.
- Barrel-cell Mud-dauber Wasp
- Sceliphron caementarium, body length 20mm
- We found this barrow-shaped cell wasp nest under the ceiling of a shack near Tingalpa Resovior. We collected them to see what will come out. A few cells were broken and a wasp came out which was almost matured. It slowly walked a short distance on the floor and than flied away. Please check this page for more details.
- Reference:
- 1. Insects of Australia, CSIRO, Division of Entomology, Melbourne University Press, 2nd Edition 1991, pp 991.
- 2. Insects of Australia and New Zealand - R. J. Tillyard, Angus & Robertson, Ltd, Sydney, 1926, p297.
- 3. What wasp is that? - An interactive identification guide to the Australasian families of Hymenoptera, 2007.
- 4. Northern Territory Insects, A Comprehensive Guide CD - Graham Brown, 2009.
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