Pests We Treat Photo Album: Mud Daubers Nesting Along the Breezeway in Plainsboro, NJ

Several Locations

As we inspected the exterior of the home, we came across over a dozen of mud dauber nests.

What Are They?

Mud daubers are solitary insects that are about ¾ to 1 inch in length and can vary in coloration from all black, blackish blue, or black with yellow markings. They create a nest using saliva and mud (hence why they're called mud daubers) where the female wasp lays her eggs.

Types of Mud Daubers in New Jersey

The larvae develop inside the nest and emerge as adult wasps. The most common mud dauber species found in New Jersey are the pipe organ mud dauber that builds pipe-shaped mud nests in protected areas such as on walls, under eaves, or in attics.

The Dangers of Mud Daubers

The threat of mud daubers is that other more aggressive stinging insects will take up residence in their nests once the mud daubers have left.

Treating the Mud Daubers

For treatment, we used our scraper and removed every single mud dauber nest. Afterward, we treated the areas with a residual application that'll prevent the mud daubers, as well as any other stinging insect, from building another nest.