# Sceliphron

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{{Short description|Genus of wasps}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| image = Sceliphron spirifex TZ edit1.jpg
| image_caption = ''[Sceliphron spirifex](/source/Sceliphron_spirifex)'' in Tanzania
| display_parents = 2
| taxon = Sceliphron
| authority = [Klug](/source/Johann_Christoph_Friedrich_Klug), 1801
| subdivision_ranks = Species
| subdivision = {{center|33 extant + 1 extinct species}}
| synonyms_ref=<ref name=Pulawski/>
| synonyms = ''Pelopoeus'' <small>Latreille, 1802</small>
}}
'''''Sceliphron''''', also known as '''black-and-yellow mud dauber wasps''' or '''black mud-dauber wasps''', is a genus of [Hymenoptera](/source/Hymenoptera) of the [Sphecidae](/source/Sphecidae) family of wasps. They are solitary [mud dauber](/source/mud_dauber)s and build nests made of mud.

As is the case with many insect genera, there are many tropical species.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Some common temperate species include ''[S. caementarium](/source/Sceliphron_caementarium)''<ref name=UMich/> and ''[S. curvatum](/source/Sceliphron_curvatum)''.<ref name=Ćetković2011/>

==Taxonomy and phylogeny==
''Sceliphron'' was divided into the subgenera ''S. (Sceliphron)'' and ''S. (Prosceliphron)'' by van der Vecht and van Breugel. They further divided the nominate subgenus into two species groups: the ''S. madraspatanum'' species-group and the ''S. spirifex'' species-group.<ref name=VanDerVecht1968/> However, due to ''Prosceliphron'' <small>van der Vecht, 1968</small> being a junior homonym of ''Prosceliphron'' <small>Frenguelli, 1946</small>, Pagliano and Scaramozzino established the replacement name ''S. (Hensenia)''.<ref name=HuyPham2016/>

The subgenus ''S. (Sceliphron)'' builds nests that have with multiple cells covered in a secondary layer of mud while the subgenus ''S. (Hensenia)'' builds single-cell nests lacking a secondary layer of mud.<ref name=Hensen1987/>

== Behavior==
Nests are frequently constructed in shaded niches, often just inside of windows or vent openings, and it may take a female only a day to construct a cell requiring dozens of trips carrying mud. Females will add new cells one by one to the nest after each cell is provisioned. They provision these nests with [spider](/source/spider)s, such as [crab spider](/source/crab_spider)s, [orb-weaver spider](/source/orb-weaver_spider)s and [jumping spider](/source/jumping_spider)s in particular, as food for the developing [larva](/source/larva)e. Each mud cell contains one egg and is provided with several prey items. Females of some species lay a modest average of 15 eggs over their whole lifespan.<ref name=Tardigrade/> Various parasites attack these nests, including several species of [cuckoo wasp](/source/cuckoo_wasp)s, primarily by sneaking into the nest while the resident mud dauber is out foraging.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}}

Like other solitary wasps, ''Sceliphron'' species are not aggressive unless threatened.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} They are sometimes regarded as beneficial due to their control of spider populations,<ref name=Pezzi1998/> though the spiders themselves may be beneficial in controlling pest insects.{{citation needed|date=May 2025}} Species such as ''Sceliphron curvatum'' are invasive in some parts of [Europe](/source/Europe), where they have been observed to rapidly increase their range in recent years.<ref name=Ćetković2004/>

==Species==
There are 33 valid living species of ''Sceliphron''.<ref name=VanDerVecht1968/><ref name=Hensen1987/><ref name=HuyPham2016/><ref name=Pulawski/><!--- Though also included in the count by Pulawski, the author notes it as currently being incertae sedis. --->
{{div col| colwidth = 25em}}
===Subgenus ''Sceliphron (Hensenia)'' <small>Pagliano & Scaramozzino, 1990</small>===
* ''[Sceliphron coromandelicum](/source/Sceliphron_coromandelicum)'' <small>([Lepeletier](/source/Am%C3%A9d%C3%A9e_Louis_Michel_le_Peletier%2C_comte_de_Saint-Fargeau), 1845)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron curvatum](/source/Sceliphron_curvatum)'' <small>(Smith, 1870)</small> –  Asia, Europe since 1970s
* ''[Sceliphron deforme](/source/Sceliphron_deforme)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1856)</small>; Asia, reported from Europe in 2004
* ''[Sceliphron fervens](/source/Sceliphron_fervens)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1858)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron formosum](/source/Sceliphron_formosum)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1856)</small> - Australia
* ''[Sceliphron funestum](/source/Sceliphron_funestum)'' <small>Kohl, 1918</small>
* ''[Sceliphron murarium](/source/Sceliphron_murarium)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1863)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron neobilineatum](/source/Sceliphron_neobilineatum)'' <small>Jha & Farooqi, 1995</small>
* ''[Sceliphron rectum](/source/Sceliphron_rectum)'' <small>Kohl, 1918</small>
* ''[Sceliphron rufopictum](/source/Sceliphron_rufopictum)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1856)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron shestakovi](/source/Sceliphron_shestakovi)'' <small>Gussakovskij, 1928</small>
* ''[Sceliphron unifasciatum](/source/Sceliphron_unifasciatum)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1860)</small>

===Subgenus ''Sceliphron (Sceliphron)'' <small>Klug, 1801</small>===
* ''[Sceliphron isaaci](/source/Sceliphron_isaaci)'' <small>Jha and Farooqi, 1995</small>
* ''[Sceliphron paraintrudens](/source/Sceliphron_paraintrudens)'' <small>Jha & Farooqi, 1995</small>
* ''[Sceliphron seistaniensis](/source/Sceliphron_seistaniensis)'' <small>Jha and Farooqi, 1995</small>

====''Sceliphron madraspatanum'' species-group====
* ''[Sceliphron argentifrons](/source/Sceliphron_argentifrons)'' <small>([Cresson](/source/Ezra_Townsend_Cresson), 1916)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron asiaticum](/source/Sceliphron_asiaticum)'' <small>([Linnaeus](/source/Carl_Linnaeus), 1758)</small> - Neotropics
* ''[Sceliphron assimile](/source/Sceliphron_assimile)'' <small>([Dahlbom](/source/Anders_Gustaf_Dahlbom), 1843)</small> – Texas, Mexico and Caribbean islands
* ''[Sceliphron caementarium](/source/Sceliphron_caementarium)'' <small>([Drury](/source/Dru_Drury), 1773)</small> – North America, established in Europe and Pacific islands by the 1970s
* ''[Sceliphron fasciatum](/source/Sceliphron_fasciatum)'' <small>(Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron fossuliferum](/source/Sceliphron_fossuliferum)'' <small>(Gribodo, 1895)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron intrudens](/source/Sceliphron_intrudens)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1858)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron jamaicense](/source/Sceliphron_jamaicense)'' <small>Fabricius, 1775</small> - Mexico, Caribbean islands
* ''[Sceliphron madraspatanum](/source/Sceliphron_madraspatanum)'' <small>([Fabricius](/source/Johan_Christian_Fabricius), 1781)</small> - Mediterranean
* ''[Sceliphron quartinae](/source/Sceliphron_quartinae)'' <small>(Gribodo, 1884)</small>

====''Sceliphron spirifex'' species-group====
* ''[Sceliphron arabs](/source/Sceliphron_arabs)'' <small>(Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)</small>
* ''[Sceliphron destillatorium](/source/Sceliphron_destillatorium)'' <small>([Illiger](/source/Johann_Karl_Wilhelm_Illiger), 1807)</small> - southern Palaearctic
* ''[Sceliphron fistularium](/source/Sceliphron_fistularium)'' <small>(Dahlbom, 1843)</small> - Neotropics
* ''[Sceliphron fuscum](/source/Sceliphron_fuscum)'' <small>Klug, 1801</small>
* ''[Sceliphron javanum](/source/Sceliphron_javanum)'' <small>Lepeletier, 1845</small>
* ''[Sceliphron laetum](/source/Sceliphron_laetum)'' <small>(F. Smith, 1856)</small>; Australia
* ''[Sceliphron pietschmanni](/source/Sceliphron_pietschmanni)'' <small>Kohl, 1918</small>
* ''[Sceliphron spirifex](/source/Sceliphron_spirifex)'' <small>(Linnaeus, 1758)</small> - Africa, southern Europe
{{div col end}}

==Extinct species==
There is one described fossil species of ''Sceliphron'':<ref name=Pulawski/>
* ''[Sceliphron tertiarium](/source/Sceliphron_tertiarium)'' <small>Meunier, 1915</small>

==Gallery==
<gallery>
Sceliphron coromandelicum (18006415).jpg|''S. (Hensenia) coromandelicum'' in India.
Sceliphron Curvatum in Greece.png|''S. (Hensenia) curvatum'' in Greece.
Sceliphron deforme (533814505).jpg|''S. (Hensenia) deforme atripes'' in Russia.
Sceliphron deforme (118883884).jpg|''S. (Hensenia) deforme deforme'' in Hong Kong.
Sceliphron fervens (609463237).jpg|''S. (Hensenia) fervens'' in Thailand.
Mud wasp with mud (15767398593) (cropped).jpg|''S. (Hensenia) formosum'' in Australia.
Sceliphron argentifrons (289078189).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) argentifrons'' in Cuba.
Potter Wasp (Sceliphron asiaticum) (38616369975).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) asiaticum asiaticum'' in French Guiana.
Sceliphron asiaticum chilense (251729217).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) asiaticum chilense'' in Chile.
Sceliphron assimile (520109109).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) assimile'' in Mexico.
Sceliphron caementarium P1300773b.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) caementarium'' in Oklahoma.
EL MALO - THE BAD (Avispa alfarera - Black-and-yellow Mud Dauber - Sceliphron destillatorium) (2595714007).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) destillatorium'' in Spain.
Sceliphron fuscum (261057701).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) fuscum'' in Madagascar.
Sceliphron fasciatum (542399283).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) fasciatum'' in the Dominican Republic.
Sceliphron fistularium , collecting mud for her nest (41976478535).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) fistularium'' in Panama.
Sceliphron jamaicense lucae (592899668).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) jamaicense lucae'' in Mexico.
Sceliphron javanum 259669855.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) javanum'' in Sumatra, Indonesia.
Sceliphron javanum nalandicum 242747028.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) javanum nalandicum'' in India.
Mud-dauber Wasp - sceliphron laetum.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) laetum'' in Australia.
Black and Yellow mud dauber.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) madraspatanum conspicillatum'' in the Philippines.
Sceliphron madraspatanum kohli.jpeg|''S. (Sceliphron) madraspatanum kohli'' in Japan.
Sceliphron 8900.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) madraspatanum madraspatanum'' in India.
Sceliphron madraspatanum pictum - 2017-02-26.png|''S. (Sceliphron) madraspatanum pictum'' in the UAE.
Sceliphron madraspatanum. Mud dauber wasp (43008797380).jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) madraspatanum tubifex'' in Albania.
Sceliphron spirifex TZ edit1.jpg|''S. (Sceliphron) spirifex'' in Tanzania
</gallery>

==See also==
* [Blue mud-dauber wasps (''Chalybion'')](/source/Chalybion)
* [Organ pipe mud dauber (''Trypoxylon politum'')](/source/Organ_pipe_mud_dauber)

==References==
{{Reflist|refs=

<ref name=Tardigrade>
{{Cite web|title=The Black & Yellow Mud Dauber|url=https://crawford.tardigrade.net/bugs/BugofMonth22.html|access-date=2020-06-06|website=crawford.tardigrade.net}}
</ref>

<ref name=Ćetković2004>
{{Cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1479-8298.2004.00067.x | volume = 7 | issue = 3 | pages = 225–229 | last = Ćetković | first = Aleksandar |author2=Ivica Radović |author3=Ljiljana Ðorović | title = Further evidence of the Asian mud-daubing wasps in Europe (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) | journal = Entomological Science | year = 2004}}
</ref>

<ref name=Pulawski>
{{Cite web | accessdate = 2026-05-19 | title = ''Sceliphron'' | website = Catalog of Sphecidae | last1 = Pulawski | first1 = Wojciech J. | date = 16 May 2026 | publisher = California Academy of Sciences | url = https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/Hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Sceliphron.pdf}}
</ref>

<ref name=Hensen1987>
{{cite journal |last=Hensen |first=R.V. |date=1987 |title=Revision of the subgenus ''Prosceliphron'' Van der Vecht (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) |journal=Tijdschrift voor Entomologie |volume=129 |pages=217-261 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/part/69311 |access-date=2025-05-18}}
</ref>

<ref name=HuyPham2016>
{{cite journal |last=Huy Pham |first=Phong |date=2016 |title=Taxonomic notes on the genus ''Sceliphron'' Klug (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) from northern Vietnam, with description of a new species |journal=Turkish Journal of Zoology |volume=40 |issue=5 |pages=686-690 |doi=10.3906/zoo-1511-18 |doi-access=free}}
</ref>

<ref name=VanDerVecht1968>
{{cite journal |last1=van der Vecht |first1= Jacobus |last2=van Breugel |first2=F.M.A. |date=1968 |title=Revision of the nominate subgenus ''Sceliphron'' Latreille (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae) (Studies on the Sceliphronini, part I) |journal= Tijdschrift Voor Entomologie |volume=111 |issue=6 |pages=185-255}}
</ref>

<ref name=Ćetković2011>
{{cite journal |last1=Ćetković |first1=Aleksandar |last2=Mokrousov |first2=Mikhail V. |last3=Plećaš |first3=Milan |last4=Bogusch |first4=Petr |last5=Antić |first5=Dragan |last6=Đorović-Jovanović|first6=Ljiljana |last7=Krpo-Ćetković |first7=Jasmina |last8=Karaman |first8=Marko |date=2011 |title=Status of the potentially invasive asian species ''Sceliphron deforme'' in Europe, and an update on the distribution of ''S. curvatum'' (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/220013257 |journal=Acta entomologica serbica |volume=16 |issue= |pages=91-114 |doi= |access-date=2026-05-18}}
</ref>

<ref name=UMich>
{{cite web |last= O'Brien |first=Mark F. |date= 1997 |title=''Sceliphron caementarium'' |url= http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/sphecidwasps/Sceliphron.html |website=The Sphecid Wasps of Michigan (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae: Sphecinae) |location= Ann Arbor |publisher=University of Michigan |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980209115413/http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/sphecidwasps/Sceliphron.html |archive-date=1998-02-09}}
</ref>

<ref name=Pezzi1998>
{{cite journal |last=Pezzi |first=Giorgio |date=1998 |title=Observations on the biology of  ''Sceliphron spirifex'' (Linnaeus, 1758) in Romagna |url=https://www.ssnr.it/10-7.pdf |journal= Quaderno di studi e notizie di storia naturale della Romagna |volume=10 |issue= |language=it |pages=71-75 |access-date=2026-05-19}}
</ref>

}}

==External links==
{{Commons category|Sceliphron}}
{{NIE Poster|year=1905|Mud-Wasp|Sceliphron}}
* [http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?guide=Sphecidae Online guide to eastern North American Sphecidae] Documents how to differentiate ''Sceliphron caementarium'' from other Sphecids

__NOTOC__
{{Taxonbar|from=Q139681}}
{{Authority control}}

Category:Sphecidae
Category:Apoidea genera
Category:Taxa named by Johann Christoph Friedrich Klug

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Sceliphron](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceliphron) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sceliphron?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.