#Common Blue Mud-dauber Wasp

[woozymitts]

European Paper Wasp (Polistes dominula) ♂ Spotted Cucumber Beetle (Diabrotica undecimpunctata) Great Golden Digger Wasp (Sphex ichneumoneus) Five-banded Thynnid Wasp (Myzinum quinquecinctum) Common Blue Mud-dauber Wasp (Chalybion californicum) Chrysidini sp. Four-banded Stink Bug Wasp (Bicyrtes quadrifasciatus) Megachile sp. Parallel-striped Sweat Bee (Halictus parallelus) Myzinum maculatum ♀ Archytas apicifer? Goldenrod Soldier Beetle (Chauliognathus pensylvanicus) Archytas apicifer? Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) ♀ Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) ♂ Common Eastern Bumble Bee (Bombus impatiens) ♀ Lobed Mason Wasp (Ancistrocerus antilope) Narrow-headed Marsh Fly (Helophilus fasciatus) Hawthorn Mining Bee (Andrena crataegi)? Vespula Sp.

Foaming at the mouth at the absolute biodiversity in my yard this year! We have this bush in the yard that the wasps, bees and flies are obsessed with, which is where I took most of the pictures.

I also noticed these HUGE flies which I've never seen before. Usually if you even look in the general direction of a fly it immediately takes off but these ones could not care less, I could put my hand right up to them and they didn't move until I physically touched them.

Also once again completely baffled by the people who talk about how "aggressive" and "mean" wasps are and how they constantly get stung. What are you guys doing??? None of the above species gave a single shit about me shoving my macro lens in their faces, and if it was windy I would sometimes grab the branch they were on to hold it steady and none of them even reacted.

The queen bee (which has a stinger unlike the males) also made no effort to sting me, after picking her up for a photo she actually refused to get off of my hand because she wanted to sit on me and groom her face.

We've also had lots of yellowjackets (I'm so bad at IDing them so no idea on species) approaching us recently and checking us out, flying extremely close and looking at us and then flying away. Even if I put my hand up in front of them to see if they want to land they sort of just look at it and then fly away.

Last year there were paper wasps on nests in my yard and they would stare at me warily but never sting me when I photographed them.

Also feel free to ID things on my iNaturalist or correct me on any IDs here!

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Common Blue Mud Dauber Wasp - Chalybion californicum

Returning from the long weekend cottage trip in Caledon, I'm so excited to share all the new insects I photographed there! There'll be quite a few to explore over the next few weeks, but before that, a prelude featuring an insect on hunt while we were loading the car. I've also added a few pictures from the beginnings of my insect photography hobby to show the insect in a more neutral position. As mentioned in earlier posts, solitary Digger Wasps make ground burrows or nests (this specie builds cells into a nest out of mud) and place their eggs inside. The eggs await a provision of food which the mother Wasp tirelessly hunts for; when the former hatch, they will have enough solid food to last them through to pupation. The Blue Mud Dauber's prey items of choice are spiders: any kind as long as they can be captured. While a video would've been better in hindsight to show how she hunts, they pictures before you here showcase the stinging and seizing inflicted by a mother Wasp. When we all first noticed her, he was flying around the garage door but not in an erratic fashion.

She was flying around systemically, combing as much air space as she could along the border of the garage door (occasionally landing) until reaching the top where she found cobwebs. I was grateful as while flying and landing these Wasps are very skittish making photography difficult, but little did I know what was really going on. After navigating her way closer to the web, she used her legs and head to twang and create movement in web, drawing the attention of a spider that crawled out from a dense web ball. The trap was set! In about 3 seconds, the spider rushed to investigate the "prey" entangled in the web and at the last second, the Wasp launched herself and enveloped the spider with her legs. By grappling the spider, the Mud Dauber can orient herself to navigate her paralyzing sting into the spider and then restrain it for easier transportation. This, along with the advantage of flight allows Wasps to effectively hunt and capture spiders, but they shouldn't get too arrogant as the winner is always the one who gets the last bite. This time, mama Wasp won. After the spider stopped struggling, the Dauber dropped from the threads and flew off, carrying her prize with her back to her muddy nest.

Pictures of the hunt were taken on June 30, 2023 with a Google Pixel 4. Supplementary pictures were taken on June 27 and September 11, 2018 with a Samsung Galaxy S4.

[z-nogyrop]

truly cannot overstate how important it is for everyone to do research into local insect species and just try to notice them when you go outside. there are beautiful metallic blue mud dauber wasps where i live and they’re common in the summer but i just never noticed them until this past year. there are so many dragonflies at the local park. in one walk this june i found ebony jewelwing damselflies and an enormous stinkbug and an emerald-coloured tiger beetle and there is honest to god so much beauty in the insect world if you are willing to look for it

[north-wilkesboro-moonshine-cave]

Every Current Formula 1 Driver But I Decided They Were All Bugs

No Thoughts, Head Empty, Only Insects I Enjoyed From My Single Entomology Class Several Years Ago. Sorry to folks from outside the states. Most of these are like. my local critters.

Max Verstappen - Appalachian Jewelwing, Calopteryx angustipennis I have no reasoning behind this one. He just gives me the vibes of a damselfly kinda man.

Sergio Pérez - Synoeca Cyanea, a species of warrior wasp, or just the Synoeca genus again, literally no justification besides he's on the dark blue team and I just really like these wasps. Please read the Synoeca wikipedia page. they are SO cool.

Lewis Hamilton - Violet Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa violacea fashionable! cool lookin bee!

George Russell - Blue Hawker, Aeshna cyanea

Charles Leclerc - Cattle Killer/Cow Killer, Dasymutilla occidentalis (letting my south midwestern hick jump OUT here. most folks call em velvet ants)

Carlos Sainz - Red Admiral, Vanessa atalanta

Lando Norris - Walker's Cicada, Megatibicen pronotalis this is NOT meant to be a drag I actually love these freakishly loud animals but he just gives bright green cicada energy.

Oscar Piastri - Green Carpenter Bee, Xylocopa aerata cop out? yeah. good bee and something that feels correct? yes.

Fernando Alonso - Mourning Cloak, Nymphalis antiopa i love these fuckin bugs. absolute freaks of nature. they live for like a full year and they're always wandering around and getting up to something. plus they're very distinguished.

Lance Stroll - Common Buckeye, Junonia coenia I'm not even gonna elaborate on this one.

Valtteri Bottas - Eastern Cicada Hawk, Sphecius speciosus I just think they're neat!

Zhou Guanyu - Ebony Jewelwing, Calopteryx maculata blatant favoritism here. The ebony jewelwing is perhaps my all time favorite bug from home :) (its also v stylish)

Esteban Ocon - Chinese Mantis, Tenodera sinensis a noble creature that frequently scares the life out of me when i find one outside my window. Why the fuck are you so long. I appreciate u anyway.

Pierre Gasly - European Field Cricket, Gryllus campestris he just *feels* a bit crickety. Idk what to tell u man.

Kevin Magnussen - Halloween Beetle (or in America, the Japanese Lady Bug), Harmonia axyridis the most determined little bastard in the animal kingdom. They WILL get into your apartment through that microscopic sliver in the window.

Nico Hulkenberg - Green June Beetle, Cotinis nitida idk dude he just serves local scarab

Daniel Ricciardo - Black-And-Yellow Mud Dauber, Sceliphron caementarium im sure you are all noticing how much i love wasps by now. i was SO brave not making this a wasp only post. if ur american and a hick (hey girl(gn) hey) you'll know these guys From Constantly Being In Your Car's Inner Workings

Yuki Tsunoda - Bullet Ant, Paraponera clavata tiny but mighty!!!!! (short king solidarity)

Alex Albon - Great Black Wasp, Sphex pensylvanicus yet more blatant favoritism for my faves. Yes this post is so i can assign the williams boys and zg my fave types of local bugs. Anyway. this is one of the best wasps in the world. if u see her irl please stop for a moment to appreciate her. she's usually a docile species but she is very big and i love her. (good hunter too)

Logan Sargeant - Blue Dasher, Pachydiplax longipennis the ultimate late spring and all of summer insect of america. voted america's sweetheart of every local body of water eight millionth year in a row!!!! one of the best dragonflies in the country and i am serious!!! if u live in north america this summer, find a LAKE, a POND, A RIVER, perhaps even a CREEK!!!!!! A POOL WILL EVEN GET YOU! you'll find these folks. at current you might catch mating flight season!!! anyway. these are crazy good hunters and they're a beautiful little baby blue shade. anyway. logan and the rest of williams should go huntin for these when he gets back to florida. think it would fix em.

[zuzsenpai]

Zuzu's bug-ventures June 8-16, 2024 (insects/spiders from a state park in northeast Pennsylvania) (re-uploading because of file size issues)

I figured I would make a collage after getting so many! A couple of the above photos have duplicates, so all in all I believe I found 65 distinct kinds. I'm still working to ID some of them, but all the ones I think I have ID'd are under the cut. Anyway, it was truly a fun experience. Maybe next time I'll have a camera that isn't a shitty phone!

You can see full size photos of most of these here.

IDs under the cut

Just a note, I'm not 100% on any of these. My IDs are speculative based on google searches, reddit, and so-on. If you think something is wrong, PLEASE let me know!

Also, each image has 9 insects/spiders in a grid. I will be referring to each grid of 9 insects/spiders as a single image below, and identifying all 9 based on rows within the image. If that makes sense. Hopefully it does!

Image 1 (first row left):

Top row (from left to right): Northern paper wasp (I'm told it's carrying caterpillar meat); Hickory tussock moth; Ground beetle of some kind (could not ID)

Middle row: Fall cankerworm moth; Barn spider; Red ichneumon wasp

Bottom row: Long-horned caddisfly; Copper underwing caterpillar; Brush-legged mayfly

Image 2 (first row right):

Top row: Very loud very big bee (could not ID); Common blue mud dauber wasp; Harvestman spider

Middle row: Limoniid crane fly; Firefly; Hoverfly

Bottom row: Elegant grass-veneer moth; Tiger crane fly; Western honey bee

Image 3 (second row left):

Top row: Two-spotted bumble bee; Marsh fly; Yellow-collared scape moth? (could not ID)

Middle row: Wolf spider (male); Macaria moth; Tipula lunata (type of crane fly)

Bottom row: Robber fly; Brown-toed forest fly; Virginian tiger moth

Image 4 (second row right):

Top row: Blue dasher dragonfly? (could not ID. Dead in spider web); White admiral butterfly; Chalk-fronted corporal dragonfly

Middle row: Clubtail dragonfly? (could not ID); Hemlock borer beetle; Eastern tent caterpillar

Bottom row: Another Tipula lanata crane fly; Double-banded grass-veneer moth; Horace's duskywing butterfly

Image 5 (third row left):

Top row: Cabbage white butterfly; Spongy moth caterpillar; Dragonfly exoskeleton (could not ID)

Middle row: White-striped running crab spider; Jumping spider (could not ID, but yes there is a spider in this photo!); Orchard orbweaver spider

Bottom row: Soldier beetle; Fortunate wave moth; Another white admiral butterfly

Image 6 (third row right):

Top row: Tussock moth caterpillar; A third white admiral butterfly (this is the last one I promise! They just have so much variation!); Another spongy moth caterpillar

Middle row: Common green bottle fly; Eastern parson spider; Another orchard webweaver spider

Bottom row: Blue dasher dragonfly (possibly female); Calligrapher fly; Dun skipper butterfly

Image 7 (last row left):

Top row: Another fortunate wave moth? (could not ID); Orbweaver spider of some kind (Could not ID); Eastern tiger swallowtail butterfly

Middle row: Stonefly exoskeleton; Ontario sallfly; Lesser house fly

Bottom row: White-striped black moth; Pale metarranthis moth (this one is my favorite find); White planthopper? (could not ID)

Image 8 (last row right):

Top row: Millipede; Immaculate grass-veneer moth; Flat wireworm beetle

Middle row: Twobanded Japanese weevil (WEEVIL TIME!!); Earwig; Bob's yellow and black millipede

Bottom row: Click beetle; Sod webworm moth? (could not ID); Deer fly

And that's it! Again, let me know if I made mistakes or if you know any of the ones I couldn't ID.

[axwritersxhaven]

Nature’s Revenge

Anthrax poisoning (natural)

Avalanche

Blizzard (exposure, hypothermia)

Drought

Earthquake

Flood (drowning)

Hailstorm

Heat wave (exposure, dehydration, leads to brushfires)

Hot spring

Hurricane

Lightning strike

Limnic eruption

Quicksand

Tar pit

Tornado

Tsunami

Volcanic eruption (and assorted catastrophes, like pyroclastic flow, lava, volcanic ash, and lahars)

Animal Attack

Attacked by a herbivore (cows, buffaloes, water buffaloes, cape buffaloes, muskoxen, wisents, hippopotami, rhinoceroses, elephants, horses, gelada baboons, gorillas, cassowaries, wild boars, and white lipped peccaries can fatally trample, kick, bite, or gore humans)

Attacked by a predator (tigers, wolves, leopards, lions, cougars, dingoes, coyotes, feral dogs, bears, hyenas, killer whales, crocodiles, alligators, Burmese pythons, anacondas, komodo dragons, great white sharks, bull sharks, tiger sharks, mako sharks, oceanic whitetip sharks, piranhas, and goonch catfish {unconfirmed} can and have killed and/or eaten humans)

Snakebite (King cobras, western and eastern diamond back rattlesnakes, black mambas, green mambas, spitting cobras, inland taipans, sea kraits, cottonmouths, olive-brown sea snakes, Belcher’s sea snake, puff adders, fierce snakes, brown snakes, king snakes, death adders, tiger snakes, Russell’s viper, saw-scaled vipers, Lebetine vipers, neotropical rattlesnakes, coral snakes, lanceheads, bushmasters, timber rattlesnakes, prairie rattlesnakes, Mojave rattlesnakes, all have potentially deadly bites)

Spider bite (brown recluses, black widows, yellow sac spiders, fringed ornamental tarantula, Chinese bird spiders, mouse spiders, Chilean recluse spiders, redback spiders, Sydney funnel web spiders, six-eyed sand spiders, and Brazilian wandering spiders have potentially deadly bites)

Insect sting(s) (European bees, “killer bees”, Japanese wasps, white hornets, honeybees, yellow jackets, bald-faced hornets, European hornets, open pipe mud daubers, paper wasps, and velvet ants can trigger allergies or sting en masse)

Insect bites (kissing bug, assassin bug)

Ants (siafu, bullet ants, army ants, and fire ants can kill the young and old)

Parasites (tapeworms, heartworms, liver flukes, hookworms, and Guinea worms can cause life-threatening complications)

Naegleria fowleri (deadly amoeba)

Methods of Execution

Burning at the stake

Beheading

Crucifixion

Drawing and quartering

Hanging

Drowning

Lethal injection

Firing squad

Electric chair

Gas chamber

Unusual Methods of Execution

Buried alive

Blowing from a gun (tied to a mouth of a cannon, which is then fired)

Boiling to death

Breaking wheel

Crushing

Disembowelment

Falling (being thrown from a height)

Flaying

Garroting

Impalement

Keelhauling

Starvation/dehydration

Stoning

Poisoning

Eating fungi (deadly conocybe, death cap, deadly galerina, false morel, destroying angel, livid entoloma, deadly fibrecap, red-pored bolete, sulfur tuft)

Eating other poisonous plants (deadly nightshade, lots of apple seeds, rosary pea, oleander, European yew, daffodils, doll’s eye, hemlock, stinging tree, castor beans, angel’s trumpet, monkshood/aconite, white snakeroot, western water hemlock, Bushman’s poison, strychnine tree, moonseed, daphne, rhododendron, chokecherry, manchineel tree, jimsonweed, lily-of-the-valley, hydrangea, poet’s narcissus, foxglove, larkspur, poinsettia, mountain laurel, and mistletoe)

Other poisons (arsenic, hydrogen peroxide, pure alcohol, ethylene glycol {antifreeze}, nicotine, sodium cyanide {industrial reactant}, strychnine {pest control}, ricin, soman, Agent Orange, batrachotoxin, asbestos, iron, hydrofluoric acid, radioactive elements {heavy metals like uranium, polonium, plutonium, cobalt, manganese, mercury, lead}, thallium salts {tasteless!}, and warfarin)

Poisonous animals (cane toads, American toads, common toads, poison dart frog, pacific newts, blowfish, lionfish, stone fish, blue-ringed octopus, box jellyfish, cone snails, Pfeffer’s flamboyant cuttlefish)

Poisons in chemical warfare (mustard gas, sarin, VX, Lewisite, ricin, abrin, Tabun, soman, VR)

Everything Goes Wrong

Airplane crash

Accidental fires (unattended candles or fireplaces, electrical shortages, unattended matches, closely packed peanuts)

Accidentally shot

Alcohol poisoning

Autoerotic asphyxiation gone wrong

Bird attack while rock climbing

Car accident

Carbon monoxide poisoning

Choking

Complications during childbirth

Diving into shallow water

Dressing inappropriately for the weather

Eating expired food

Electrocution

Falling from a great height

Falling into a wood chipper

Falling off a riding animal (horse, camel, elephant, etc.)

Firework malfunction

Gas leak

Hit by a vehicle/carriage/ship/train

Inhaling fuel, natural gas, methane, etc.

Machinery

Medical malpractice

Playing sports

Power line in the water

Roller coasters

Shipwreck

Space

Standing under a falling tree

Suffocation

Swallowing small objects

Swallowing the wrong pills

Trampled to death in a crowd

Tripping

Walking onto train tracks

Weapons

Firearms (pistols/handguns, revolvers, rifles, shotguns, blunderbusses, arquebuses, zip guns)

Nuclear weapons

Ranged weapons (arrows, ballistas, trebuchets, Greek fire, catapults, margonels, slingshots, boomerangs, cruise missile, cannons, rockets, grenades, mortars, bombs,

Stabbing/slashing weapons (swords, daggers, poniards, spears, axes, poleaxes, halberds, shivs)

Methods (General)

Temple crushed

Stabbed in the eye

Gutted

Blunt force trauma to the head, neck, or chest (rarely)

Femoral, jugular, and/or brachial arteries severed

Destroyed heart

Destroyed brain

Destroyed lungs

Punctured lungs

Destruction of a majority of organs

Shock

Loss of more than 2 L of blood

Exhaustion

Dehydration

Asphyxiation

Starvation

Exposure

Failure (kidneys, brain, heart)

Heart attack

Stroke

Disease

Arising from poor sanitation (arsenicosis, diarrhea, cholera, fluorosis, typhoid fever, polio)

Spread by insects (malaria {mosquito}, Bubonic plague {flea}, sleeping sickness {tsetse fly}, Lyme disease {tick}, dengue fever {mosquito}, leishmaniasis {sandfly})

Spread by other animals (influenza {pigs}, rabies {mammals}, Chagas disease {chickens and dogs})

Infectious diseases (smallpox, scarlet fever, mononucleosis, syphilis, whooping cough, HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, pneumonia, ebola, HRSV, HMPV, hepatitis A, B, and C)

Acquired (Alzheimer’s, meningitis, cancer, Parkinson’s, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, lupus, pleurisy, tetanus)

Genetic (sickle cell disease, hemophilia, polycystic kidney disease)

Dumb Ways to Die

Below the cut is +400 ways to kill your characters

Keep reading

[that-crazy-scorpio-man]

Found this critter patrolling around in the butterfly garden while Krystle, Arielle and I were checking things out.  At first I thought it was just debris and then it started moving.  What kind of caterpillar is it?

[dolicho-vespula]

Gorgeously iridescent, but shy. Likely a common blue mud-dauber (Chalybion californicum).

Here it is next to an smaller, unknown potter wasp.

[arcticarthropod]

I’m not sure what this little one is I think she’s a mud dauber maybe?

I tried for a good half hour to get a picture that looked any good and this is as good as I could do. They are very very very skittish and I could not get a shot that showed off just how vividly blue they are.

I’ll try again on Monday

On the bright side I did learn a new bug hunting technique. If you kinda just sway in the breeze like mantises do they are a lot calmer about you being there. I feel like I leveled up as a bug hunter. Although now I look like much more of a weirdo.

[goodmorningmistermagpie]

Here's a few considerations that are in my opinion pretty good

source: i am currently working on a bug alien porn game

European Firebug. Got the legs, got a pretty dashing red and black pattern, I know the edgier of you like that color scheme a whole bunch. Lovely red eyes. Like lime tree seeds, perhaps it could translate to an affinity for good cooking if we wanted to anthropomorphize

2. White-lined Sphinx and the Sphinx moths as a whole have a lovely tendency towards elaborate patterns, this particular species having a nice pink coloration on the underwings.

3. Spotted Lanternfly. Invasive, stupid, has no concept of personal space but some like that. A large bug with brightly colored red underwings and a spotted pattern on the top pair it manages to own.

4. Red Milkweed Beetle. A very whimsical and distinguished fellow. Bright and bold color with a dash of arguably tasteful spots. Perhaps a little clownish to some but the curled antennae give him a charm.

5. Mediterranian Spotted Chafer. Now that's someone with real class and taste. A smart black and white ensemble, but not afraid to get a little covered in pollen in pursuit of sweet nectar. Has an affinity for getting photographed with flowers.

6. Black Witch Moth. Now we're talking. the name, the finely patterned ensemble, the eye spots. The sheer size of the fucking thing. Looks amazing under UV light. Stares right into your soul.

7. Six-spot Burnet. Lovely red spots, long dark legs, a sleek, elongated shape, a tasteful blueish sheen. Is amazingly photogenic next to lilac and purple.

8. American Rubyspot. The transparency with a splash of color. The carnivorous lifestyle next to water. Gloriously aerodynamic. A little green sheen as a bonus. Lovely all around.

9. fucking look at that thing what is that [red banded leafhopper]

10. Blue-winged Scoliid Wasp. Now, it's no secret wasps are pretty bugs. But this one's gold spots with copper hairs and blue-black base are particularly dashing to me. The wings appear either bluish or copper depending on the light as well

11. Nearctic Blue Mud-dauber Wasp. But if you want to get into some Good Shapes you can do worse than a mud dauber wasp. The alien-like proportions, the distinctly metallic look and feel, the long antennae the piercingly thin legs, she got it all

12.Common Cockchafer. i'm not immune to funny name

13. The Devil's Coach-horse Beetle. A delightful little fellow in all black, but not without cheer in his eyes. With such alternative names as 'coffin cutter' and a myth that you'll be forgiven sins if you crush it this specimen is cunty indeed.

14. Common Lovebug. A delightful name for a delightful bug! They stay together a while after mating so if you like days-long aftercare maybe that's the bug for you.

15. Harnessed Tiger Moth. Bondage and pink. Carefully maintained antennae, long black boots. The patterns on the underwings occasionally resemble hearts. Pretty and knows it.

16. Meadow Plant Bug. Long, adapted for lovely camouflage among seed-bearing plants it feeds on and is considered a pest for. Has wonderfully long antennae, comes in coppery or green accent. I just think they're neat.

17. The Tanner. A badass name, a thick, armored body, an even dark color. They're pretty big guys, and their thicker, segmented antennae suit them wonderfully. Very handsome.

16. White Plume Moth. The fucking audacity to look like some sort of halfway crushed ghost thing. Could very well be a fae in disguise. Seems to know of its fragility and laugh in its face. Its ghastly eyes watch you carefully.

what is the cuntiest/sexiest insect

[onenicebugperday]

@whocaresgobuckwild submitted: Found this guy in my home a few months back :) location: [removed] (please remove location)

Also sorry if this is very common or something I'm not great with insects jsbsbsh

No problem, most people can't ID random wasps! Looks like a thread-waisted wasp in Sphecidae, more specifically a blue mud-dauber wasp. I won't mention which species exactly, as that may give away your general location.

[jupiterswasphouse]

I haven't managed to get a lot of pics recently but I HAVE seen quite a few wasps around! Including: an iridescent blue/green cuckoo wasp, a small wasp (potter wasp?) with oddly round abdomen (as opposed to pointed at the end), a black ichneumon wasp drilling into a fence, a wasp that appeared to be mostly bright red and that acted like a mud dauber as it dug into some sand, another mason wasp that got into my room through the window (successfully freed), a thread-waisted wasp that seems to like drinking/collecting rain water from one particular spot, and a pair of yellow jackets (common yellow jacket and bald faced hornet respectively) fighting each other midair!

[jonnysinsectcatalogue]

Common Blue Mud Dauber Wasp - Chalybion californicum

Mud Dauber Wasps tend to be rather skittish and shy, especially when it comes to photography. Even if some individuals are found, it’s not a guarantee that they’ll want to stick around to be photographed, even if you’re far from them. They’ll take notice of you and then fly away to escape! It’s such behavior like that which gives a picture like Pictures 2 and 7. From my experience, the best way to photograph a Mud-Dauber is to find one that’s either preoccupied by something or during cold days when their movement is sluggish. For example, the individuals showcased in the remaining pictures are occupied with different food sources: one individual has found sticky-sweet material on milkweed leaves (which is likely to be honeydew) while the individual on the Japanese maple tree has a bit of something in its mandibles. The latter is a bit strange as adult Mud-Daubers rely on nectar from flowers rather than insects (their Wasp-waist restricts intake of solid food), meaning this is a capture for the nest. Closer inspection reveals it to be a small spider (probably)! Indeed, that’s definitely going to the nest as a provision for their eggs. 

As their name suggests, this specie makes a nest in the ground. Sometimes it doesn’t even make a fresh nest, but instead reuses old or abandoned nests to make its home. While anecdotal, my front yard sees the Blue Mud Dauber population return year after year underneath two bushes. It’s possible the nests there are reused generation after generation. Hopefully the close proximity of nests to Wasps doesn’t result in squabbling or territorial disputes. The Wasp not only nests in the ground, but also hunts close to the ground too. This might be a strategy to evade other predators and to hunt spiders who stray away from their webs or those who have yet to build a nest. It’s much more dangerous to fight a spider on its own turf, even with size being in the Wasp’s favor, along with a lot of favorable stinging angles. They do always have the option to ascend to higher altitudes to try their luck at hunting, but more than likely they’ll just find flowers to drink from, and fellow pollinators such as the guest appearance Western Honeybee. Though not as populous as the latter, the efforts of the Blue Mud Dauber have contribution to the pollination and spread of several flowers.

Pictures were taken on June 30, July 7, 8 and August 4, 2019 with a Samsung Galaxy S4.

[firelord-frowny]

lmao i was talkin about bugs with my mamma and i managed to name over 100 bugs/arthropods that i’ve seen with my own eyes. i’m so proud of my bug-seeing. <3

big dipper firefly

brown chafer

japanese beetle

cucumber beetle

seven spotted ladybug

rove beetle

eastern hercules beetle

six spotted neolema beetle

brown marmorated stink bug

eastern leaf-footed bug

leaf hopper

dog day cicada

periodical cicada

waterboatmen

backswimmers

wheel bug

thread-legged assassin bug

pselliopus assassin bug

polyphemus moth

pandora sphinx moth

luna moth

tiger moth

snowy urola moth

hummingbird moth

nessus sphinx moth

somber carpet moth

wavy lined emerald moth (caterpillar)

eastern tent moth

eastern tent moth caterpillar

snowberry clearwing moth

monarch butterfly

tiger swallowtail butterfly

black swallowtail butterfly

zebra swallowtail butterfly

zebra wing butterfly

fiery skipper butterfly

silver spotted skipper butterfly

peck’s skipper butterfly

red admiral butterfly

red spotted purple admiral butterfly

cabbage white butterfly

common buckeye butterfly

chinese mantis

carolina mantis

field cricket

camel cricket

bush cricket/katydid

giant lubber grasshopper

american cockroach

german cockroach

oriental cockroach

carpenter ants

dobsonfly

widow skimmer dragonfly

red saddlebags dragonfly

black saddlebags dragonfly

autumn meadowhawk dragonfly

blue dasher dragonfly

ebony jewelwing damselfly

whitetail skimmer dragonfly

green darner dragonfly

earwig :(

pill millipede 

wood louse

house centipede 

mosquitos, duh

fruit flies, duh

robber flies

crane flies

picture-winged flies

cicada killer wasp

european hornet

bald faced hornet 

eastern paper wasp

european paper wasp

eastern yellowjacket

european yellowjacket

southern yellowjacket

red paper wasp 

common paper wasp

black and yellow mud dauber wasp 

common thread waisted wasp

cuckoo wasp

spider wasp

mason bee

european honey bee 

sweat bee 

eastern bumblebee

american bumblebee

carpenter bee 

four toothed mason wasp

carolina wolf spider gotDAMN those motherfuckers are ENORMOUS

crab spider

marbled orb weaver

black widow spider

cobweb spiders

cellar spiders

three spotted jumping spider

american giant millipede

northern walkingstick

planthopper

tiger bee fly

box elder bug

large milkweed bug

SO MANY BUGS TO SEE 

[captain-lovelace]

Got any cool pictures of bugs to share???

DO I!

Found this velvet ant (actually a kind of ground-dwelling wasp) on the ground outside my house a few months ago!

And this bee was on our sunflowers yesterday— I think iNaturalist identified it as a litigated furrow bee

This is a short-horned grasshopper!

A mud-dauber, one of the thread-waisted wasps

A rock bristletail! These are interesting because they belong to one of the basalmost insect orders, the Archaeognatha. (Fun fact: my mom found a jumping bristletail the other day and was like JESUS WHAT IS THAT because it did in fact jump at her.)

A blue dasher, and I’m still proud of how this picture turned out.

A common snakefly! (Which is a misnomer, seeing as they’re not actually flies.) Check out the neck and the ovipositor (no, that is not a stinger)

Ladybug nymph! Not exactly uncommon, but still cool to look at.

Spotted cucumber beetle found on one of our squash plants, which mom wasn’t happy about

And an honorable mention to this picture of a honeybee I got because I’m also really proud of how it turned out.

I can only add 10 pictures to a post at a time so that’s all for now but I’ll continue bringing you insect updates!

[waspappreciation]

Excuse me my good fellow do you have any wasps that are... P u r p l e ?

oh ho purple a rare trait for animals indeed and because of that examples of just purple wasp hard to find BUT iridescently purple a bit more common 

up top you got the blue mud dauber and under that we have pipe organ dauber they look mostly blue to blueish purple depending on lighting 

you also have iridescent cuckoo wasps like this ruby tail with its red to purplish “tail”

and then there’s Chrysis equestris who may not be the most purple of them all but just look at them

rainbow !!!!!