''Sceliphron'', also known as black mud daubers or black mud-dauber wasps, is a genus of
Hymenoptera of the
Sphecidae family of wasps. They are solitary
mud daubers and build nests made of mud. Nests are frequently constructed in shaded niches, often just inside of windows or vent openings, and it may take a female only a day to construct a cell requiring dozens of trips carrying mud. Females will add new cells one by one to the nest after each cell is provisioned. They provision these nests with
spider
Spiders (order (biology), order Araneae) are air-breathing arthropods that have eight limbs, chelicerae with fangs generally able to inject venom, and spinnerets that extrude spider silk, silk. They are the largest order of arachnids and ran ...
s, such as
crab spiders,
orb-weaver spiders and
jumping spiders in particular, as food for the developing
larva
A larva (; : larvae ) is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into their next life stage. Animals with indirect development such as insects, some arachnids, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase ...
e. Each mud cell contains one egg and is provided with several prey items. Females of some species lay a modest average of 15 eggs over their whole lifespan.
Various parasites attack these nests, including several species of
cuckoo wasps, primarily by sneaking into the nest while the resident mud dauber is out foraging.
As is the case with many insect genera, there are many tropical species. Some common temperate species include ''
S. caementarium'' and ''
S. curvatum''.
Like other solitary wasps, ''Sceliphron'' species are not aggressive unless threatened. They are sometimes regarded as beneficial due to their control of spider populations, though the spiders themselves may be beneficial in controlling pest insects. Species such as ''Sceliphron curvatum'' are invasive in some parts of
Europe
Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...
, where they have been observed to rapidly increase their range in recent years.
''Sceliphron'' species
There are 34 valid species of ''Sceliphron''.
* ''
Sceliphron arabs''
(Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)
* ''
Sceliphron argentifrons''
( Cresson, 1916)
* ''
Sceliphron asiaticum''
(Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné,#Blunt, Blunt (2004), p. 171. was a Swedish biologist and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the modern system of naming o ...
, 1758); Neotropics
::Type locality ''In Indiis'' was interpreted as India; syn. ''S. figulum''
* ''
Sceliphron assimile''
( Dahlbom, 1843) – Clayman's mud dauber; Texas, Mexico and Caribbean island
* ''
Sceliphron aterrimum''
(Marquet, 1875)
* ''
Sceliphron caementarium''
( Drury, 1773) (''Sphex'') – black and yellow mud dauber, yellow-legged mud dauber, black-waisted mud dauber
::North America, established in Europe and Pacific islands by the 1970s
* ''
Sceliphron coromandelicum''
( Lepeletier, 1845)
* ''
Sceliphron curvatum''
(Smith, 1870) – Asian mud dauber; Asia, Europe since 1970s
* ''
Sceliphron deforme''
(F. Smith, 1856); Asia, reported from Europe in 2004
* ''
Sceliphron destillatorium''
( Illiger, 1807); southern Palaearctic
* ''
Sceliphron fasciatum''
(Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)
* ''
Sceliphron fervens''
(F. Smith, 1858)
* ''
Sceliphron fistularium''
(Dahlbom, 1843); Neotropics
* ''
Sceliphron formosum''
(F. Smith, 1856); Australia
* ''
Sceliphron fossuliferum''
(Gribodo, 1895)
* ''
Sceliphron funestum''
Kohl, 1918
* ''
Sceliphron fuscum''
Klug, 1801
* ''
Sceliphron intrudens''
(F. Smith, 1858)
* ''
Sceliphron isaaci''
Jha and Farooqi, 1995
* ''
Sceliphron jamaicense''
Fabricius, 1775; Mexico, Caribbean islands
* ''
Sceliphron javanum''
Lepeletier, 1845
* ''
Sceliphron laetum''
(F. Smith, 1856); Australia
* ''
Sceliphron madraspatanum''
( Fabricius, 1781); Mediterranean
* ''
Sceliphron murarium''
(F. Smith, 1863)
* ''
Sceliphron neobilineatum''
Jha and Farooqi, 1995
* ''
Sceliphron paraintrudens''
Jha and Farooqi, 1995
* ''
Sceliphron pietschmanni''
Kohl, 1918
* ''
Sceliphron quartinae''
(Gribodo 1884)
* ''
Sceliphron rectum''
Kohl, 1918
* ''
Sceliphron rufopictum''
(F. Smith, 1856)
* ''
Sceliphron seistaniensis''
Jha and Farooqi, 1995
* ''
Sceliphron shestakovi''
Gussakovskij, 1928
* ''
Sceliphron spirifex''
(Linnaeus, 1758); Africa, southern Europe
* ''
Sceliphron unifasciatum''
(F. Smith, 1860)
See also
* ''
Chalybion''
*
Organ pipe mud dauber (''Trypoxylon politum'')
References
* Observations on the biology of ''Sceliphron spirifex'' (Linnaeus, 1758) in Romagna, Pezzi G.
*
External links
Short discussion on genus ''Sceliphron''.*
ttp://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Sphecidae Online guide to eastern North American SphecidaeDocuments how to differentiate ''Sceliphron caementarium'' from other Sphecids
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{{Authority control
Sphecidae
Apoidea genera
Taxa named by Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug