On 20 Jun 2003 14:52:42 GMT, (jamie)
wrote:

It's been driving me crazy that every time I go in my garage, dirt daubers
are flying in and out. I sprayed a couple of mud nests that I found,
but they must have a few more that I haven't found yet. They scare the
heck out of me, because I can't see that they're not wasps until they
stop moving, and lately a couple have even flown right into me and gotten
caught in the folds of my shirt for a few seconds on their way in or out.


"Dirt daubers" AKA "mud daubers" ARE wasps. However, they rarely sting
anything except their prey, so they are pretty harmless. They are
solitary wasps, so they do not have that self-sacrificial "protect the
nest" gene that the social wasp workers have. They may just be looking
for a place to build their nest.

There are generally beneficial insects that prey on caterpillars,
spiders, or a variety of other critters and I would recommend leaving
them alone. Why do feel that you need to eliminate them? Would not
simply keeping your garage door closed solve the problem? (Assuming
you have a garage door.) Shoo them out of the garage before you close
the door if you are concerned about accumulating bad karma.

If you want to prevent these insects as well as paper wasps from
building nests under the eaves of your house, paint the underside of
the eaves blue. (Really!) Apparently the wasps think it's sky or
something and won't try to build there. I guess you could try painting
the entire inside of your garage blue.

Elliot Richmond
Freelance Science Writer and Editor