Quote:
Originally posted by competentone
I'm pretty sure those are Blue Mud Wasps. Do you have many black widow spiders around? That's the food source for their young.
As for the social behavior you observe (Are you sure they built the nest you're seeing them on?), from the second link: >>"Sleeping" aggregations (see Behavior) may also be part of the mate-finding process (Bohart and Menke 1976).<<
and: >>Sometimes this species is found in groups, sheltering during the night or during bad weather (Bohart and Menke, 1976).<<
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Pretty sure it's their nest, but I'll continue to observe them. There are lots of Black Widows around here, so if that's what their young eat, they'll not go hungry. While it rained here last night, they've been on that nest for quite a while, weeks at least.
here's another photo, not very good because of the lens flare, but you can see them.
I'll try for a better photo later.