A spider’s worst nightmare: If you fear spiders, these wasps may be your heroes

A common expression foreshadowing the topic of this discussion might be, “What goes around, comes around."

For instance, if spiders are the worst nightmares of flies, then, to go around, wasps must surely be the worst nightmares of many spiders! The nest contents of a few species of our area’s wasps help provide some supporting evidence for the previous statement.

If you or someone you know has a fear of spiders, the good news is some of the wasps in our region seek out and capture spiders to provision their nests and/or burrows.

Meet the arachnid eliminators

Two of these wasps are in a group called mud daubers. Two additional types are known as rusty spider wasps and tarantula hawks. Except for reproduction during spring and fall, these arachnid eliminators are solitary species.

However, mud daubers often produce several broods of young per year and, in ideal conditions, can become locally abundant.

Mud daubers: How to tell which is which

The two most common mud daubers of North Texas and Southwestern Oklahoma are slender-bodied with long legs and narrow, stalk-like, flexible waist segments called petioles. Their antennae are threadlike and usually straight.

The common names of these mud daubers are based upon their body colors. One is known as the black and yellow mud dauber. The second species is called the blue mud dauber.

Blue mud daubers have dark blue bodies with smoky colored wings, and black and yellow mud daubers have black bodies with distinctive yellow markings, usually black petioles, and yellow, femoral leg segments.

Rusty spider wasps and tarantula hawks

Rusty spider wasps are slightly more robust than mud daubers and have relatively long legs and straight antennae with distinctive tubercles/knobs at their bases.

Their body is a rusty or red brick color, and their wings are a dark, iridescent blue color. The abdomen is encircled by four narrow, darker reddish bands.

Tarantula hawks have dark, black bodies and distinctive orange wings, and they are larger than mud daubers and rusty spider wasps.

Also, the antennae of tarantula hawks are short and curled as opposed to the longer, straighter antennae of the other wasp species.

Building a mud dauber nest

Female mud daubers choose areas near available water and moist, clayey soils. They obtain mud from there by chewing the wet soil into small balls which are transported to their nesting sites on walls, building eaves and rafters, underneath bridges and decks, on and within machinery, and in various other locations.

The mud is mortared and sculpted into varying shapes and sizes. Some large nests may have diameters exceeding 4 inches to 5 inches. Black and yellow mud daubers usually construct new nests each year.

But blue mud daubers prefer to use older nests and/or may take over the nests of other mud dauber species. Each nest usually has several egg chambers.

Eight-legged food for the youngsters

The female wasp provisions the chambers with prey items paralyzed by her sting, lays a single egg inside of each chamber and seals its opening with mud.

Mud daubers are industrious workers, and I’ve often observed and heard them loudly buzzing (seemingly in a happy, unconcerned manner) as they constructed and provisioned their nests.

Preferred prey items of black and yellow mud daubers include crab spiders, lynx spiders and some types of jumping spiders.

Blue mud daubers are noted predators of black widow and brown widow spiders. As many as 15 to 20 spiders may be packed into each egg chamber of a mud dauber’s nest.

Burrow nests

Rusty spider wasps dig shallow burrows in suitable soils, underneath rocks and other structures and utilize cracks and crevices as nest sites.

The female wasps excavate the shallow burrows with their legs, place a paralyzed spider into the burrow, lay a single egg on the spider (usually on the spider’s abdomen) and then cover over and camouflage the burrow/nest.

Preferred prey of rusty spider wasps includes wolf spiders, funnel-web spiders and nursery spiders.

Tarantula hawks often use the burrows of their tarantula prey after they have subdued the large spiders with multiple stings. Tarantula hawks capture trap door spiders and tarantulas.

Although rusty spider wasps and tarantula hawks are usually less abundant than mud daubers, the former are easy to see as they drag their much larger, inert spider prey toward nearby ground burrows.

Flower hoppers

Interestingly, adult males and females of these spider-hunting wasps are nectivores and fly from plant-to-plant seeking nectar. The flowers of wild carrots, milkweeds, mesquites and other plants provide a ready supply of nectar for adults.

However, the living but paralyzed spiders captured by female wasps are the food supply for the wasp’s growing and developing larvae. The wasps’ flower-hopping, foraging activities likely also help them locate spider prey for their young.

Foraging, hunting and nest construction activities occur during dawn, dusk and daylight hours, and the adult wasps usually rest upon plants and other surrounding objects at night.

The sting of a tarantula hawk

Although mud daubers will defend their nests, none of these solitary wasps are very aggressive unless directly provoked and, with one exception, their rare stings to humans are not harmful or very painful.

The exception is the tarantula hawk’s sting. It is reputed to be one of the most painful types of insect stings but is not deadly unless the person is allergic to the wasp’s venom.

The distinct black body and orange wings of the tarantula hawk serve as a warning to predators, and tarantula hawks also stridulate loudly whenever they feel provoked.

Whose side are they on?

The nests of mud daubers can be unsightly and, in some cases, might cause issues if the mud daubers decide to nest inside of electrical boxes/covers, temporarily inactive vehicles and other mechanical equipment.

However, mud daubers, rusty spider wasps and tarantula hawks help control spider and insect populations and also provide pollination services to local plants.

Therefore, if you’re not a fan of spiders, these four types of wasps are on your side!

Jim Goetze is a retired professor of biology and former chairperson of the Natural Sciences Department of Laredo College with an avid interest in all aspects of the natural world. He can be contacted at [email protected].

This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Goetze: If you fear spiders these wasps may be your heroes