Sceliphron is a genus of Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera is one of the largest orders of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees and ants. There are over 130,000 recognized species, with many more remaining to be described. The name refers to the heavy wings of the insects, and is derived from the Ancient Greek ὑμήν : membrane and...

 of the Sphecidae

Sphecidae

Sphecidae is a cosmopolitan family of wasps that include digger wasps, mud daubers and other familiar types that all fall under the category of thread-waisted wasps.The are predominently solitary wasp,distributed world wide.At present this family consist of eight subfamilies and three tribes...

 family of wasps, commonly referred to as mud dauber

Mud dauber

Mud dauber is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family Sphecidae or Crabronidae that build their nests from mud...

s. They are solitary and build nests made of mud. 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 spider

Spider

Spiders are air-breathing arthropods that have eight legs, and chelicerae with fangs that inject venom. They are the largest order of arachnids and rank seventh in total species diversity among all other groups of organisms...

s, such as crab spider

Crab spider

Crab spider is a common name applied loosely to many species of spiders, but most nearly consistently to members of the family Thomisidae...

s, orb-weaver spider

Orb-weaver spider

The "typical" orb-weaver spiders are the most common group of builders of spiral wheel-shaped webs often found in gardens, fields and forests...

s and jumping spider

Jumping spider

The jumping spider family contains more than 500 described genera and about 5,000 described species, making it the largest family of spiders with about 13% of all species. Jumping spiders have some of the best vision among invertebrates and use it in courtship, hunting and navigation...

s in particular, as food for the developing larva

Larva

A larva is a distinct juvenile form many animals undergo before metamorphosis into adults. Animals with indirect development such as insects, amphibians, or cnidarians typically have a larval phase of their life cycle...

e. 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 http://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth22.html. Various parasites attack these nests, including several species of cuckoo wasp

Cuckoo wasp

Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the Hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group of parasitoid or cleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliantly colored metallic-like bodies...

s, primarily by sneaking into the nest while the resident mud dauber is out foraging.

As is the case with many insect genera, there are many tropical species. Some common temperate species include the black and yellow mud dauber

Black and yellow mud dauber

Black and yellow mud dauber is a common name for the sphecid wasp species Sceliphron caementarium. They are solitary insects that build nests out of mud, in sheltered locations, frequently on man-made structure such as bridges, barns, open porches or under the eaves of houses...

 (Sceliphron caementarium) and Sceliphron curvatum.

Like other solitary wasps, Sceliphron species are not aggressive and do not sting unless mishandled. They are sometimes regarded as beneficial due to their control of spider populations, though the spiders themselves may be beneficial in controlling pest insects. Species such as Sceliphron curvatum are invasive in some parts of Europe

Europe

Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...

, where they have been observed to rapidly increase their range in recent years http://web.natur.cuni.cz/filosof/bogusch/sceliphron.htm.

Sceliphron species

Sceliphron Klug 1801

• Sceliphron abdominale Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron argentifrons Cresson 1916
• Sceliphron asiaticum Linnaeus 1758 (Sphex); Neotropics

Type locality In Indiis was interpreted as India; syn. S. figulum

• Sceliphron assimile Dahlbom 1843 (Pelopoeus); Texas, Mexico and Caribbean islands
• Sceliphron benignum Smith 1859
• Sceliphron bugabense Dalla Torre
  Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre
  Karl Wilhelm von Dalla Torre was an Austrian taxonomist, entomologist and botanist.Dalla Torre studied natural sciences at the University of Innsbruck. He then worked in the University as an entomologist and in 1895 became Professor of Zoology at the University of Innsbruck...
  
   1897
• Sceliphron caementarium
  Black and yellow mud dauber
  Black and yellow mud dauber is a common name for the sphecid wasp species Sceliphron caementarium. They are solitary insects that build nests out of mud, in sheltered locations, frequently on man-made structure such as bridges, barns, open porches or under the eaves of houses...
  
  Drury 1773 (Sphex) – Black and yellow mud dauber

North America, established in Europe and Pacific islands by the 1970's

• Sceliphron caucasicum Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron chilensis Spinola 1851
• Sceliphron coromandelicum Lepeletier 1845
• Sceliphron curvatum Smith 1870; Asia, Europe since 1970’s
• Sceliphron cyclocephalum Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron deforme Smith 1856; Asia, reported from Europe in 2004
• Sceliphron destillatorium Illiger 1807; southern Palaearctic
• Sceliphron fistularium Dahlbom 1843; Neotropics
• Sceliphron formosum Smith 1856; Australia
• Sceliphron imflexum Sickmann 1894
• Sceliphron intermedium Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron jamaicense Fabricius 1775; Mexico, Caribbean islands
• Sceliphron javanum Lepeletier 1845
• Sceliphron laetum Smith 1856; Australia
• Sceliphron madraspatanum Fabricius 1781; Mediterranean
• Sceliphron nalandicum Strand 1915
• Sceliphron quartinae Gribodo 1884
• Sceliphron rufiventre Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron soror Dalla Torre 1897
• Sceliphron spirifex
  Sceliphron spirifex
  Sceliphron spirifex is a species of sphecid wasp. It has a medium sized body , which is dull black with a long, yellow petiole . The legs are black with yellow bands, the antennae are black and the wings are clear....
  
  Linnaeus 1758 (Sphex); Africa, southern Europe
• Sceliphron (madraspatanum) tubifex Latreille 1809; Mediterranean

External links

• Short discussion on genus Sceliphron.
• Discussion on an Australian species, Sceliphron formosum
• Discussion on an American species, Sceliphron caementarium
• Online guide to eastern North American Sphecidae Documents how to differentiate Sceliphron caementarium from other Sphecids