About the Sceliphron laetum
Sceliphron laetum is a wasp in the family Sphecidae, the mud-dauber wasps. Like other members of this genus, it is a solitary species and builds cells out of mud in which to rear its young, provisioning them with paralysed spiders, and laying an egg in each. This wasp is native to Australia and southeastern Asia.
Like other members of the family Specidae, the first abdominal segment of S. laetum has been modified into an elongated, slender petiole. This wasp is 17 to 26 millimetres (0.67 to 1.02 in) long and is largely black, with bold yellow markings. It has membranous wings which fold over the body when at rest. Its head is clad with yellow hairs which thin out ventrally. It lacks an area of bare yellow skin on the lower part of the face which is present in the otherwise similar Sceliphron formosum. The thorax has one or more yellow patches dorsally between the wings. The hind tip of the thorax, the petiole and the front part of the gaster are yellow, the bulbous central portion of the gaster is black and its apex is yellow. The legs are yellow with some black markings.
Sceliphron laetum is native to most of Australia and parts of southeastern... Wikipedia →