Blue mud dauber

The blue mud dauber or blue mud wasp (Chalybion californicum) is a metallic blue species of mud dauber wasp first described by Henri Louis Frédéric de Saussure in 1867. It is not normally aggressive towards humans.[2] It is similar in shape and colour to the steel-blue cricket hunter (Chlorion aerarium). Like other types of wasps, males do not have an ovipositor, and therefore cannot sting. It is ranged from northern Mexico to southern Canada, including most of the United States.[3] It has also been introduced to regions including Hawaii, Bermuda and Croatia[4]

Blue mud dauber
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Family:	Sphecidae
Genus:	Chalybion
Species:	C. californicum
Binomial name
Chalybion californicum (Saussure, 1867) [1]
Synonyms [1]
Pelopeus californicus Saussure, 1867 Sphex caeruleus Linnaeus, 1763 Sphex cyaneus Fabricius, 1775

It is most famous for its predation of black widow spiders.[2] Adults feed on the nectar of flowers, which powers their flight. They pollinate some common wildflowers, including Berberis vulgaris, Daucus carota, and Zizia aurea. Larvae are fed spiders, often Latrodectus mactans. They prefer to hunt prey on the ground or under rocks.

Females can build their own nests, but often refurbishes nests abandoned by other wasps and bees,[4] particularly those of Sceliphron camentarium,[5] removing any spiders captured by S. camentarium and the larva, replacing it with an egg of its own and freshly caught spiders.[3] They go through multiple generations in a year.