Blue mud dauber

Blue mud dauber
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Sphecidae
Genus:	Chalybion
Species:	C. californicum
Binomial name
Chalybion californicum (Saussure, 1867) [1]
Synonyms [1]
Pelopeus californicus Saussure, 1867 Sphex cærulea Linnaeus, 1763

The blue mud dauber is a metallic blue species of mud dauber wasp that preys primarily on black widow spiders.^[2] It does not build a nest, but uses nests abandoned by other mud dauber wasps. Like other mud daubers, it is rarely aggressive. Blue mud dauber wasps are generally considered beneficial, because they help to regulate the population of black widow spiders.^[2]

References

1. ^ ^{a b} M. C. Day (1979). "The species of Hymenoptera described by Linnaeus in the genera Sphex, Chrysis, Vespa, Apis and Mutilla". Biological Journal of the Linnean Society 12 (1): 45–84. doi:10.1111/j.1095-8312.1979.tb00049.x. 
2. ^ ^{a b} B. M. Drees & J. Jackman (1999). "Mud Daubers". Field Guide to Texas Insects. Texas A&M University. http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg334.html.