Wasp - Just Curious or Looking to Attack? - Sceliphron caementarium

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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Apoidea sans Anthophila – Apoid Wasps » Thread-waisted Wasps (Sphecidae) » Sceliphrinae » Mud-dauber Wasps (Sceliphrini) » Black Mud-dauber Wasps (Sceliphron) » Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp (Sceliphron caementarium)

Photo#420786

Copyright © 2010 John Hartgerink

Wasp - Just Curious or Looking to Attack? - Sceliphron caementarium

Baton Rouge - BREC Bluebonnet Swamp Nature Center, East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana, USA
July 3, 2010

The spider is a Black & Yellow Argiope - aka "Zipper Spider"

The wasp made about three passes near the spider.
Each time the spider went into what seemed like a defensive posture with front legs waving in the air.
No real attack was observed.

It there enough detail to ID the wasp?
Would such a wasp actually attack a spider this?

The photo was taken from about 12 feet away with my 400 mm birding lens, but there is quite a bit detail in the wasp.
There is even a subtle shadow of the wasp in the spider web.
Would be nice to have the wasp ID when telling the story.

John

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Wasp - Just Curious or Looking to Attack? - Sceliphron caementarium

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Contributed by John Hartgerink on 3 July, 2010 - 1:07pm
Last updated 5 November, 2012 - 7:08am

Moved

Moved from ID Request.

… John S. Ascher, 4 July, 2010 - 3:11pm

awesome scene indeed -- great job, John

… v belov, 3 July, 2010 - 4:03pm

That's a cool shot

And to think, the wasps take the spiders right out of their webs! That is daring

… Vespula Vulgaris, 3 July, 2010 - 3:34pm

The wasp is..

Sceliphron caementarium, the black and yellow mud dauber. They do actually attack spiders to feed to their young. They sting the spider to paralyze it, take it back to their nest, and lay eggs in it. the wasp larvae will eat the spider alive, and then pupate and leave the nest!

… Breanna Lyle, 3 July, 2010 - 1:17pm

Mud dauber.

This is an awesome image! The wasp is a black and yellow mud dauber, Sceliphron caementarium, and yes, she was looking for spider prey to stock in her mud nest for her larval offspring. The wasp was probably literally "sizing up" the spider, and probably decided it was a bit too much to handle. Mud daubers usually attack orb weavers a fraction of this size, but last summer in Massachusetts I saw one persist in trying to evict a large female Araneus trifolium from her retreat on the periphery of her web.

… Eric R. Eaton, 3 July, 2010 - 1:17pm

got here at the same time

We posted similar answers at the exact same time... that's a cool coincidence!

… Breanna Lyle, 3 July, 2010 - 1:18pm

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