One of OPMD hatched! I saw it looking around its enclosure (ie coffee jar) at lunch time. Indeed, I was beginning to wonder if any of my jars were going to produce anything.
Of course, y’all are familiar with the OPMD’s nest. I took two tubes to the house back in February.
Looking carefully at the nest, you can see the female gathered mud from several different soil types.
This was the side plastered to the rock.
One cocoon removed from the nest.
A view of a larva! It actually stayed alive for almost a month. I didn’t know if it could finish developing outside of its protective home. Well, the answer was no. Then I waited for the others. Tick tock tick tock…
Here is the case and hole where it chewed its way out today.
Immediately, I put it in the fridge to slow it down. Unfortunately, it did survive that process.
So it was time to look closer! I was amazed at all the short black hairs on its head and thorax. Black hairs vs pale hairs distinguishes it from another similar species.
The hind wing was smaller than the forewing. Both had a blue tint.
This was a front leg!
The rear leg was similarly shaped but lighter in color!
Here was the business end. Here is a link to a much more detail and fascinating article on the life cycle for the PIPEORGAN MUD DAUBERS. .An important part of the ecosystem, enjoy and embrace these wonderful creatures!
Very cool! And good to know about sunblock.
The dauber nests are quite pretty. Ive read about the sunscreen. Seems everything we do destroys something.