
Community identification
Blue mud dauber (likely)
Chalybion californicum
- Order & Family
- Hymenoptera; Sphecidae
- Size
- About 13–20 mm (0.5–0.8 in) long.
Natural Habitat
Common around buildings, gardens, wood piles, and dry, sheltered areas across much of western and central North America.
Diet & Feeding
Adults consume nectar and other sugary liquids. Females provision nests with paralyzed spiders for their larvae.
Behavior Patterns
Solitary wasps that often reuse abandoned mud-dauber nests; females carry spiders into nest cells, lay one egg, and seal each cell. They are agile flyers and usually nonaggressive toward people.
Risks & Benefits
The sting is possible but uncommon and generally limited to handling or trapping the wasp. Beneficial predators of spiders and minor pollinators; identification is tentative because the image is partly obscured.