Mud Wasp Infestation in Cliffwood, NJ

Before	After

I was sent to a home in Cliffwood, NJ when the homeowner contacted Cowleys after finding a wasp nest above a window in a seldom used room. 

Upon arrival, I went to the room where there was a wasp nest. Based on the shape and construction of the nest, i immediately recognized it as a mud dauber nest. Mud daubers are solitary wasps that, unlike social wasps like yellow jackets and baldfaced hornets, do not live in colonies with a queen and hundreds of specialized workers. Instead, each female breeds and tends to her own. For the most part, solitary wasps like mud daubers are not territorial with regard to their nests. They  are not aggressive, and they seldom sting people. 

These wasps also known as dirt daubers or mud wasps, and for good reason. The female constructs small nests by carrying little mud balls to the nest site. She uses the nests to keep her eggs warm. The nests are built as cylindrical tubes that look like a pipe organ (the most common species in New Jersey is known as the organ pipe mud dauber).

I removed the active nest that already had several eggs and wasps in various stages in their life cycle. Homeowners can control mud dauber populations in their home by controlling spider populations since they live, for the most part, on a steady diet of spiders. By sealing cracks where spiders can live and regularly removing spider webs, you should not have a problem with mud daubers. However, if you do start seeing these strange little mud nests around your home, call a pest control technician to remove them. While these guys are not actively looking to sting, if you start trying to scrape away their nests as a weekend DIY project without the right equipment and products, you’re asking for trouble.