Editing Sceliphron caementarium (section)

==Biology==
[[File:Contenuto di un nido di Sceliphron Caementarium (Vespa muratore).jpg|thumb|Paralyzed spiders used as larval provisions collected from a nest]]
[[File:Yellow-legged Mud-dauber Wasp, Texas, US imported from iNaturalist photo 323358330.jpg|thumb|Carrying a spider]]
The black and yellow mud daubers are solitary [[parasitoid wasp]]s that build nests out of mud. These sphecid wasps collect mud balls at puddle and pool edges for constructing nests. Frequently, nests are built in shaded areas inside formations that are sheltered from the weather or from other environmental elements. These sites may be naturally-occurring, or man-made structures. Some examples are: under and inside various types of bridges, barns, garages, open-air porches, or under housing eaves. The nests comprise up to 25 vertically arranged, individual cylindrical cells. After initial creation and covering of the clutch, this sphecid wasp uses more mud as a means covering and protecting the whole cluster of cells, thereby forming a smooth appearance, and a uniform nest. The entire nest may attain an area equal to, or larger than, the size of an average human fist.

After building a cell of the nest, the female wasp captures several [[spider]]s. The captured prey are stung and paralyzed before being placed in the nest (usually 6–15 per cell), and then a single egg is deposited on the prey within each cell. The wasp then seals the cell with a thick mud plug.<ref name=bugguide/><ref name="Lorus Milne Field Guide">{{cite book |last1=Milne |first1=Lorus |last2=Milne |first2=Margery |title=Field Guide to Insects & Spiders |date=August 2003 |orig-year=Originally Published October 1st 1980 |publisher=Alfred A Knopf, Inc |location=New York |isbn=0-394-50763-0 |pages=[https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00miln/page/844 844–845] |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/nationalaudubons00miln/page/844 }}</ref> After finishing a series of cells, she leaves and does not return. While consuming the prey and increasing in size, the larva molts several times, until it molts into a [[pupa]]. Once the pupa has developed into an adult wasp, the adult emerges from its pupal case and breaks out of its mud chamber.

Adults can be seen in mid-summer feeding on nectar at flowers, especially Queen Anne's lace (''[[Daucus carota]]''), parsnips, and water parsnips (''[[Sium suave]]'', ''[[Sium latifolium]]'', ''[[Berula erecta]]'').<ref name=naturesearch/> They have a low reproductive rate.<ref name="Kulzer"/> Stings are rare due to their solitary and usually nonaggressive nature; however, nests are aggressively defended.

A common species of [[cuckoo wasp]], ''[[Chrysis angolensis]]'', is frequently a [[cleptoparasite]] in ''[[Sceliphron]]'' nests, and is only one of many different insects that parasitize these [[mud dauber]]s.<ref name="Kulzer"/>

===Venom===
Although they are common components of [[venom]]s: [[serotonin]], [[histamine]], [[acetylcholine]],<ref name="OConnor-Rosenbrook-1963" /><ref name="Schmidt-1982" /> and [[kinin]]s<ref name="Rosenbrook-OConnor-1964" /> are absent from ''S. caementarium'' venom.