Mud Wasp.

A mud wasp has started building a nest, of all places, on a shed window. Attachment 503533 Attachment 503534
This gives me the opportunity to perve in through the back door to watch what happens inside the nest.
Attachment 503535 The top cell contains spiders, the lower cell has an egg hanging from the ceiling waiting for the next load of spiders.
I'll keep my camera handy to see if I can get one of Mrs Wasp.

Cheers,
Geoff.

Great photos and opportunity to watch, Geoff. Can I suggest that you post to the Australian Amateur Entomology FB page, they love invertebrate phorn. .

A terrible way to go. Paralysed, entombed and waiting to be eaten alive....
Nightmares are made of this.... :C

We get quite a few Mud Wasps here. They have a mission to fill up any hole they like. They are an annoyance that make a simple task like using an air blower turn into a pain in the neck as you try to get the blower to work. I was concreting one day and was squatted down screeding and was visited by a MW who used some slurry to go and build a nest. I wondered what the larva thought of the slurry when trying to break out

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chambezio

I was concreting one day and was squatted down screeding and was visited by a MW who used some slurry to go and build a nest. I wondered what the larva thought of the slurry when trying to break out

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Revenge is sweet. :D

Iv'e had them build nests in teapot spouts that I have missed before firing and they become permeant.

I have picked up some great "throwaways " because of blocked exhausts by mud wasps.
Motor will start then stall as exhaust backs up. So owners chuck it out .... buy another.

There's been no activity at the nest for a few days, on closer inspection found the remains of the wasp in the bottom of the window frame. Looks like a resident spider complained to the local council, got no action, so took the law into its own hands.


Attachment 503738

Cheers,
geoff.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by chambezio

I was concreting one day and was squatted down screeding and was visited by a MW who used some slurry to go and build a nest. I wondered what the larva thought of the slurry when trying to break out

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I had one do the same thing when the eldest kid was in 3 or 4 year. After it became obvious that they couldn't break out of the nest, I sprayed the nest with some sort of insect killer. After a few weeks I took a putty knife and gently scraped the nest off into a baggie. The kid brought it to class to show everyone. The teacher screamed when the kid said that he had a wasp nest. Then he explained how the mud was wet concrete and how I sprayed. At parent / teacher night we heard about it.