The organ pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) is a type of wasp in the family Crabronidae. They are fairly large wasps, shiny black with pale hind tarsi. Male organ pipe mud daubers are among the few male wasps of any species to stay at the nest. A male "stands guard" (to prevent theft of prey or nest materials, as well as to ward off parasites) while a female is away collecting spiders. Mating typically occurs on her visits to the nest. They typically build their nests in sheltered locations, and large aggregations may form with dozens to hundreds of nests in a small area.
Organ pipe mud daubers are also an exceedingly docile species of wasp, and generally pleasant to have around, as they serve to keep spider populations down. Stings to humans are very rare, bordering on non-existent. However, if squeezed, Organ pipe mud daubers will sting in self-defense. There are a great many other species in the genus Trypoxylon (over 700 worldwide), mostly smaller in size and less abundant.
Read more about Organ Pipe Mud Dauber: Gallery
Famous quotes containing the words organ, pipe and/or mud:
“And this mighty master of the organ of language, who knew its every stop and pipe, who could awaken at will the thin silver tones of its slenderest reeds or the solemn cadence of its deepest thunder, who could make it sing like a flute or roar like a cataract, he was born into a country without literature.”
—Willa Cather (1873–1947)
“On a cloud I saw a child,
And he laughing said to me,
“Pipe a song about a Lamb”;
So I piped with merry chear.
“Piper pipe that song again”—
So I piped, he wept to hear.
“Drop thy pipe thy happy pipe
Sing thy songs of happy chear”;
So I sung the same again
While he wept with joy to hear.”
—William Blake (1757–1827)
““Dirty fellow!” exclaimed the Captain, seizing both her wrists, “hark you, Mrs. Frog, you’d best hold your tongue; for I must make bold to tell you, if you don’t, that I shall make no ceremony of tripping you out of the window, and there you may lie in the mud till some of your Monseers come to help you out of it.””
—Frances Burney (1752–1840)