Teaching Ecological Concepts with Mud Dauber Nests.

Mud dauber nests are familiar sights on the walls of barns and other buildings and under bridges. These nests house not only the grub-like larvae their builders intended, but also a fascinating assemblage of other seldom-seen organisms. Because they are readily available, harmless, and -like owl pellets -unique and unpredictable, mud dauber nests are engaging for students to dissect. They offer an authentic and inexpensive laboratory experience with real organisms that enables students to explore and understand important ecological concepts such as food webs and chains and the interactions between organisms. They also provide meaningful practice using dichotomous keys. All one needs for success are mud dauber nests, keys for identifying the organisms present, and some natural history or biological information on the organisms and their interrelationships. In North America three species of mud dauber wasps are common, and their nests share the same guild of inhabitants. The black and yellow mud dauber (Sceliphron caementarium) occurs across the entire continent, making nests that look like a small blob of mud thrown on to a wall. The organ pipe mud dauber (Trypoxylon politum) is common east of the Great Plains; it constructs tubes of mud that resemble the pipes of an organ. The steel blue mud dauber (Chalybion californicum) typically uses nests made by the other two species; it also occurs across North America. Photographs of the three wasp species and their nests and cocoons are provided in Matthews (1997). One may obtain mud dauber nests any time, but collecting them during the colder months (roughly October to April) ensures that the nests have been abandoned by their maker and that the living contents will be in a dormant stage. Restrict collections to current year nests, i.e., Reprinted From: Matthews, R. W. 1999. Teach ecological concepts with mud dauber nests. Pages 380-381, in Tested studies for laboratory teaching, Volume 20 (S. J. Karcher, Editor). Proceedings of the 20 Workshop/Conference of the Association for Biology Laboratory Education (ABLE), 399 pages.