Common Mud-dauber Wasp (9/9)

Hymenoptera: Sphecidae

Sceliphron laetum  

A Common Mud-dauber Wasp has constructed four capsules in this hollow in a granite boulder.

Three of them are sealed and already contain a large paralysed spider and a single wasp egg. When the egg hatches, the newly emerged larva will burrow into the spider and eat it alive, eventually exiting from the capsule as a full grown adult wasp.

The fourth capsule is open. The builder is scouring the nearby area for yet another spider to forcibly install in the beautifully constructed little nest, followed by the laying of another egg and the sealing of the chamber.