Species Sceliphron curvatum - Asian Mud-dauber Wasp

Classification · Explanation of Names · Identification · Range · Remarks · Print References · Internet References · Works Cited

Foreign mud dauber - Sceliphron curvatum - male

small wasp - Sceliphron curvatum - female

Mud wasp making sounds around bathroom window - Sceliphron curvatum - female

Mud wasp making sounds around bathroom window - Sceliphron curvatum

sceliphron curvatum in my bedroom? - Sceliphron curvatum

Classification

Kingdom Animalia (Animals)

Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)

Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)

Class Insecta (Insects)

Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)

No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)

No Taxon (Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps)

Family Sphecidae (Thread-waisted Wasps)

Subfamily Sceliphrinae

Tribe Sceliphrini (Mud-dauber Wasps)

Genus Sceliphron (Black Mud-dauber Wasps)

Species curvatum (Asian Mud-dauber Wasp)

Explanation of Names

Sceliphron curvatum (F. Smith, 1870)

Identification

According to Christian Schmid-Egger (Aug 12, 2019: pers. comm. to Matthias Buck), the photos on BugGuide clearly show S. curvatum, not S. deforme (up to this point there was doubt about the species). Schmid-Egger (2005) provides a key to separate the two species from each other and from European species [in German].

Range

native to Asia, introduced elsewhere; spreading rapidly in Europe, discovered in Argentina in 2001 (Compagnucci & Roig Alsina 2008).

Scattered US records, particularly centered around airports (map(1)). Newly recorded for MN in 2023.

Remarks

BugGuide photos from Quebec (2013) apparently represent the first North American record. The complete range in the US represents several independent introduction events.

This species currently is considered introduced and nonnative but not invasive in North America as it neither out-competes our native species, nor faces a lack of predation, nor is associated with the ecological, economical, or public health harms that define an invasive species. These points are quite different in Europe in particular, where both introduced species, S. curvatum and S. caementarium, significantly out-compete native species.

Print References

Compagnucci LA, Roig Alsina A (2008) Sceliphron curvatum, una nueva avispa invasora en la Argentina (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae). Rev Soc. Entomol. Argent. 67: 65-70. (Full text)

Schmid-Egger C (2005) Sceliphron curvatum (F. Smith 1870) in Europa mit einem Bestimmungsschlüssel für die europäischen und mediterranen Sceliphron-Arten (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae). BembiX 19: 7-28. (Full text)

Internet References

La Pélopée courbée (Sceliphron curvatum) est arrivée!

Works Cited

1.	Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)

Contributed by Matthias Buck on 13 August, 2019 - 5:22pm
Additional contributions by Mike Quinn, v belov, PaleoJon, bdagley
Last updated 4 August, 2024 - 12:40am

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