Blue Mud Dauber
July 14th, 2011
I'm still enough of a novice at insect-watching that things can take me completely by surprise. Example: I had no idea we had metallic blue wasps in Ottawa! This one caught my eye at Mud Lake while I was watching the heron struggle with his lunch.
Many thanks to the folks at What's That Bug for their help. I was disappointed that it didn't turn out to be the badass-sounding Steel Blue Cricket Hunter--that is, until I learned that the Blue Mud Dauber is far more badass. Its favorite prey is Black Widow spiders! The adult actually lives on nectar, but captures and kills spiders to feed its young. As there aren't many (any?) Black Widows in Ottawa, I'm guessing this wasp is not particularly common either.
The second photo shows off the violet highlights in the wings:
July 14th, 2011
I'm still enough of a novice at insect-watching that things can take me completely by surprise. Example: I had no idea we had metallic blue wasps in Ottawa! This one caught my eye at Mud Lake while I was watching the heron struggle with his lunch.
Many thanks to the folks at What's That Bug for their help. I was disappointed that it didn't turn out to be the badass-sounding Steel Blue Cricket Hunter--that is, until I learned that the Blue Mud Dauber is far more badass. Its favorite prey is Black Widow spiders! The adult actually lives on nectar, but captures and kills spiders to feed its young. As there aren't many (any?) Black Widows in Ottawa, I'm guessing this wasp is not particularly common either.
The second photo shows off the violet highlights in the wings:
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dagibbs
July 14th, 2011 at 7:51 pm
Neat.
Mike
July 15th, 2011 at 7:47 am
Very pretty colors indeed! How big is it?
Suzanne
July 16th, 2011 at 2:18 am
Almost an inch long. One of the more impressive wasps I've seen.