Organ pipe mud dauber
| Organ pipe mud dauber | |
|---|---|
| Organ pipe mud dauber with a spider, Woodbridge, Virginia | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Domain: | Eukaryota |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Crabronidae |
| Genus: | Trypoxylon |
| Species: | T. politum |
| Binomial name | |
| Trypoxylon politum Drury, 1773 | |
The organ pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) is a predatory wasp in the family Crabronidae. It is fairly large, ranging from 3.9–5.1 cm, and has been recorded to fly from May to September. Females and males are similar in colour, a shiny black, with the end part of the back leg being pale yellow to white.
The organ pipe mud dauber gets its name from the distinctive shape and composition of its nests. It is native to eastern North America.
Organ pipe mud daubers are also an exceedingly docile species of wasp, and generally beneficial to have around, as they serve to keep spider populations down; larvae feed on living paralyzed spiders.