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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps » Ants, Stinging Wasps, and Hornets (Vespoidea) » Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Potter and Mason Wasps (Eumeninae) » Eumenes
Photo#177991
Eumenes larva? - Eumenes
Copyright © 2008 Charley Eiseman

Eumenes larva? - Eumenes
Huntington, Chittenden County, Vermont, USA
April 20, 2008
Size: ~6mm
I found some blobs of mud stuck to the foundation of a friend's house, and when I scraped them off I found larvae like this one in thin silken cocoons, tucked into divots in the concrete. Is this possibly a potter wasp larva? These were irregular blobs, and not nice, hollow structures as I'm used to seeing with potter wasps.

Also, any advice on keeping them alive, now that I've wrecked their homes?
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Contributed by Charley Eiseman on 20 April, 2008 - 2:50pm
Last updated 10 November, 2008 - 10:52am

Moved
Moved from Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps. I was unable to rear these, but having thoroughly researched the various mud nests of wasps, and re-examined my photos of the interior of the nest, I'm confident of the ID.
… Charley Eiseman, 10 November, 2008 - 10:52am login or register to post comments

Wasp Larva
Not sure if you found the same thing I did, but check out my series of this black-and-yellow mud dauber nest.
… Lynette Schimming, 20 April, 2008 - 3:08pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks...
This definitely wasn't a Sceliphron nest, but your larva looks pretty darn similar to mine. I guess another option would be a Trypoxylon of some sort, which would be more closely related to yours than a vespid would... These are the only images of Eumenes larvae I've seen, and I can't get a good sense from them of how similar they are to the ones I found.
… Charley Eiseman, 20 April, 2008 - 3:31pm login or register to post comments

 
Potter Wasp larva
I have another series of shots here. Most of them are past the larva stage, though.
… Lynette Schimming, 20 April, 2008 - 3:37pm login or register to post comments

 
Thanks again!
Nice images, and now I've pretty much lost hope of getting more specific than "wasp larva" unless I can rear these. I'll keep the image here for a little while just in case someone happens to see it and has advice on rearing.

By the way, this image

looks like it has a tachinid pupa and... a butterfly egg? I presume those are unrelated?
… Charley Eiseman, 20 April, 2008 - 3:50pm login or register to post comments

 
I don't think
they were unrelated. I can't be positive, but I'm pretty sure that round white thing was part of the contents of the pot.
… Lynette Schimming, 20 April, 2008 - 3:58pm login or register to post comments

 
Interesting.
I guess if they collect caterpillars, there's no reason they wouldn't collect eggs too. And the tachinid would explain why the wasp died.
… Charley Eiseman, 20 April, 2008 - 4:16pm login or register to post comments

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