Mud Dauber Identification & Prevention

Mud Dauber (Mud Wasp)

Mud Daubers, or Mud Wasps, is a name commonly used to describe wasps that build their nests from mud. The Mud Dauber has 6 legs and is long and slender with a thin, thread-like waist, and are about .5 to 1 inch (25mm) in length. In West Michigan, Mud Wasps are commonly dark with patches of yellow on their thin bodies, covered in small hairs. However, they can also be bright yellow with black markings as well. If you discover these wasps in or around your property, call a professional pest control exterminator in Muskegon, MI, for safe and effective hive and wasp removal.

Mud Dauber Nests

Nest made from mud

A female mud wasp builds the nest using mud and her saliva to form a simple urn-shaped nest attached to crevices, cracks, and corners. The female rolls mud into a ball and carries it back to her nest where it is formed into shape. You can find their nests on the side of buildings, under overhangs, porches, in barns, or anywhere that is protected from the rain. Mud Wasps prefer to build inside holes and crevices. They have been known to shut down machinery like lawnmowers and snow blowers by building their nest inside exhaust holes.

2 types of nests

There are two different types of Mud Dauber nests. The black and yellow Mud Dauber builds a series of cylindrical cells which she plasters together with mud and saliva. Next is the organ-pipe mud dauber. These insects are more robust than their black and yellow cousin. This species of mud wasp builds its nest in cylindrical tubes that resemble an organ. There is another species of Dauber that is metallic-blue in color. This species does not build its own nest. Instead, it hunts for abandoned black and yellow Mud Wasp nests.