Mud Daubers

I have often seen the little mud nests around my storage building but I never knew exactly what was instide.  Often I wouldn't discover them until they were already empty.  

This spring I found some that were fully loaded and broke one open to explore the mud chambers.  Doing so creeped me out!

These are the creations of the Mud Dauber - a type of wasp.  They lay their eggs and fill the rest of the chamber with spiders.  The larva wiggle around their little mud home eating a feast of spiders while they become little wasps.

 Cracking open the mud to find a tightly packed wad of spiders is the creepy part for me.  I wanted no part in touching or being near the thing once I discovered that.   But I did learn about Mud Daubers.

I also read that Mud Daubers are not often aggressive toward humans.  I guess I'm too big to shove into one of the mud nests.  I'm so thankful for that.