Sceliphron

Sceliphron
Sceliphron spirifex in Tanzania
Scientific classification Edit this classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Clade: Pancrustacea
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Sphecidae
Subfamily: Sceliphrinae
Tribe: Sceliphrini
Genus: Sceliphron
Klug, 1801
Species
33 extant + 1 extinct species
Synonyms

Pelopoeus Latreille, 1802

Sceliphron, also known as black-and-yellow mud dauber wasps or black mud-dauber wasps, is a genus of Hymenoptera of the Sphecidae family of wasps. They are solitary mud daubers and build nests made of mud.

As is the case with many insect genera, there are many tropical species.[citation needed] Some common temperate species include S. caementarium and S. curvatum.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Sceliphron was divided into the subgenera S. (Sceliphron) and S. (Prosceliphron) by van der Vecht and van Breugel. They further divided the nominate subgenus into two species groups: the S. madraspatanum species-group and the S. spirifex species-group. However, due to Prosceliphron van der Vecht, 1968 being a junior homonym of Prosceliphron Frenguelli, 1946, Pagliano and Scaramozzino established the replacement name S. (Hensenia).

The subgenus S. (Sceliphron) builds nests that have with multiple cells covered in a secondary layer of mud while the subgenus S. (Hensenia) builds single-cell nests lacking a secondary layer of mud.

Behavior

Nests are frequently constructed in shaded niches, often just inside of windows or vent openings, and it may take a female only a day to construct a cell requiring dozens of trips carrying mud. Females will add new cells one by one to the nest after each cell is provisioned. They provision these nests with spiders, such as crab spiders, orb-weaver spiders and jumping spiders in particular, as food for the developing larvae. Each mud cell contains one egg and is provided with several prey items. Females of some species lay a modest average of 15 eggs over their whole lifespan. Various parasites attack these nests, including several species of cuckoo wasps, primarily by sneaking into the nest while the resident mud dauber is out foraging.[citation needed]

Like other solitary wasps, Sceliphron species are not aggressive unless threatened.[citation needed] They are sometimes regarded as beneficial due to their control of spider populations, though the spiders themselves may be beneficial in controlling pest insects.[citation needed] Species such as Sceliphron curvatum are invasive in some parts of Europe, where they have been observed to rapidly increase their range in recent years.

Species

There are 33 valid living species of Sceliphron.

Subgenus Sceliphron (Hensenia) Pagliano & Scaramozzino, 1990

Subgenus Sceliphron (Sceliphron) Klug, 1801

Sceliphron madraspatanum species-group

Sceliphron spirifex species-group

Extinct species

There is one described fossil species of Sceliphron:

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 Pulawski, Wojciech J. (16 May 2026). "Sceliphron" (PDF). Catalog of Sphecidae. California Academy of Sciences. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  2. ↑ O'Brien, Mark F. (1997). "Sceliphron caementarium". The Sphecid Wasps of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sphecinae). Ann Arbor: University of Michigan. Archived from the original on 1998-02-09.
  3. ↑ Ćetković, Aleksandar; Mokrousov, Mikhail V.; Plećaš, Milan; Bogusch, Petr; Antić, Dragan; Đorović-Jovanović, Ljiljana; Krpo-Ćetković, Jasmina; Karaman, Marko (2011). "Status of the potentially invasive asian species Sceliphron deforme in Europe, and an update on the distribution of S. curvatum (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)". Acta Entomologica Serbica. 16: 91–114. Retrieved 2026-05-18.
  4. 1 2 van der Vecht, Jacobus; van Breugel, F.M.A. (1968). "Revision of the nominate subgenus Sceliphron Latreille (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) (Studies on the Sceliphronini, part I)". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie. 111 (6): 185–255.
  5. 1 2 Huy Pham, Phong (2016). "Taxonomic notes on the genus Sceliphron Klug (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) from northern Vietnam, with description of a new species". Turkish Journal of Zoology. 40 (5): 686–690. doi:10.3906/zoo-1511-18.
  6. 1 2 Hensen, R.V. (1987). "Revision of the subgenus Prosceliphron Van der Vecht (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie. 129: 217–261. Retrieved 2025-05-18.
  7. ↑ "The Black & Yellow Mud Dauber". crawford.tardigrade.net. Retrieved 2020-06-06.
  8. ↑ Pezzi, Giorgio (1998). "Observations on the biology of Sceliphron spirifex (Linnaeus, 1758) in Romagna" (PDF). Quaderno di studi e notizie di storia naturale della Romagna (in Italian). 10: 71–75. Retrieved 2026-05-19.
  9. ↑ Ćetković, Aleksandar; Ivica Radović; Ljiljana Ðorović (2004). "Further evidence of the Asian mud-daubing wasps in Europe (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae)". Entomological Science. 7 (3): 225–229. doi:10.1111/j.1479-8298.2004.00067.x.