Mud Nests In Attic

To locate the nest watch the flight path of returning wasps.

Mud nests in attic.

Female mud daubers construct nests of mud. Mud daubers belong to different families and are variable in appearance. These nests are usually on tree branches in shrubs under eaves beneath outdoor furniture in garages or barns under porches or decks under the roofs of porches decks and picnic shelters on attic ceilings or in just about any sheltered area from which they can hang a nest. Nests typically exhibit round holes in them as the wasps emerge.

Ridding your attic of all traces of nest will not only give you a cleaner home but can keep any new wasps from being drawn to an existing nest. Many short mud tubes usually about 1 long are constructed side by side. If the nest is near the home keep nearby windows closed. If you suspect the nest is in your attic or in a wall it is then almost always best to call a professional.

Some nests can be the size of basketballs or even larger. Most resemble long slender wasps about 1 inch 25 mm in length. Mud dauber or mud wasp or dirt dauber is a name commonly applied to a number of wasps from either the family sphecidae or crabronidae that build their nests from mud. The organ pipe mud dauber constructs nests that look like long thin pipes while other mud daubers typically create urn shaped nests.

Mud dauber nests are often found on the side of buildings under overhangs on front porches in barns or inside caves to protect themselves from the rain. They usually build their nests in a sheltered site such as under eaves porch ceilings in garages and sheds left open in barns and attics etc. Search carefully for nests in areas preferred by dirt daubers including garages attic spaces or areas beneath roofs or eaves. Mud nests can be scraped up with a putty knife and thrown away while paper nests are easily brushed off with a large grill brush.

The name refers to the nests that are made by the female wasps which consist of mud.