Spider Question, well I think it is (showing, custom home)

[diecastcarguy]

So I use my patio doors all the time to go from the family room to the garage and such, I mean ALL THE TIME. Today I walk out the patio door and get hit in the head with some dirt. I look back and up and there is a nice mudpack/dirt something that looks like a bee/wasp hive. Being new here (3 months) im in awe and confused. It wasn't there yesterday afternoon. So, I get a broom and decide to hit and run..... what we do back in IL, its about the size of a pear with one opening.

Anyway.... I whack it, it falls and inside are spiders and larva. The spiders, least they looked like it arent really moving but they have long legs. I naturally smash the hive or whatever with my shoe and then sweep it away.

I then turn around and notice another one on the other patio door (master bedroom) that is diagonal to the family room and also a door I pass ALL THE TIME. It wasnt there yesterday either. Again I knock it down, kill the live larva what look like little spiders. These by the way are up in the slide part of the door where the 2 overlap, if that makes sence.

OK......... what are these ??? Not like any spider web thing I ever saw. I also never saw spider larva..... I mean I know what that looks like. I also dont get how they can build these that fast. I just hosed off the patio and windows and doors Thursday afternoon so they werent there then.

Any help would be appreciated. I live on an acre, custom home subdivision and have no landscape yet. Could a hole mud nest blow up there ??? I heard Black widow egg sacks can get blown in the wind.

TIA

[shroom]

Probably mud daubers or some type of wasp. I'm not an entomologist, but I think all spiders lay eggs, not larva.

Lots of creepy-crawlie critters start showing up during & after the monsoons because they are seeking water. Might be a good idea to call a pest control company for an initial treatment, then have regular service either every other month or every 3 months.

[Bummer]

Sorry, no help here, diecastcarguy . . .

However, I'd call a professional if they return after the monsoons end.

[JustPassinThru]

Think you had two wasp nests. The adult wasps collect spiders, paralyze them, then place them in an egg cell. The wasp larvae feed on these spiders. I've counted as many as 24 spiders in one egg cell. What is ironic is that people who fear spiders are always destroying these nests.

[sablebaby]

Interesting. I have those every once in a while. They do pop up overnight. I had one on my FRONT door a couple of weeks ago. It wasn't there the night before, just as you said. People always told be it looked like a beehive, so that's what I thought it was, too. So, it's a wasps nest?

[Steve-o]

Originally Posted by JustPassinThru

Think you had two wasp nests. The adult wasps collect spiders, paralyze them, then place them in an egg cell. The wasp larvae feed on these spiders. I've counted as many as 24 spiders in one egg cell. What is ironic is that people who fear spiders are always destroying these nests.

Youre probably thinking of the pepsid wasps (ie tarantula hawks)? If so, they paralyze tarantulas with their venom, then lay their eggs inside the tarantula. The newborn wasps then eat the tarantula from the inside out. Gruesome, but its nature.

[diecastcarguy]

Thanks for the info and yeah this makes total sence. The spiders that were inside were not really active. As many spiders as larva. Makes total sence. I have planned on having a pest control come out guess I will call them tuesday at this point. Thanks again.

[JustPassinThru]

Originally Posted by Steve-o

Youre probably thinking of the pepsid wasps (ie tarantula hawks)? If so, they paralyze tarantulas with their venom, then lay their eggs inside the tarantula. The newborn wasps then eat the tarantula from the inside out. Gruesome, but its nature.

No, was thinking of the mud daubers. The tarantula hawk doesn't carry the spider to a nest, just buries it.

The metallic blue/black mud daubers that hunt blackwidow spiders prefer to construct their nests in garages, so I'm guessing that the nests mentioned in the OP belonged to the yellow/black species.

Once the nest is completed, the mother doesn't return, but you can usually identify the species by opening an older nest and finding an adult which is close to emerging. In a newer nest you would probably just find larvae.

What I didn't understand was that, apparently, the nests were constructed at night, and I wasn't aware of any bee or wasp activity after sunset.