What Attracts Mud Daubers To Your House?

Nobody can blame you if you do your best to avoid stinging insects this spring and summer. That includes mud daubers, which many people mistake for common wasps, but they’re different. So, what attracts mud daubers to your house?

Mud daubers are drawn to houses with plenty of spiders, yard debris, mud, and shelter spots. You will likely find mud daubers under a porch roof and eaves, as these are ideal hiding spots. You can keep mud daubers away if you place sugar water traps around your yard and hang fake hornet nests.

Hornets are much bigger and more aggressive than mud daubers and avoid hornets at all costs. Follow along as we explore what attracts mud daubers and highlight several ways to keep them away from your home.

Why Are There So Many Mud Daubers?

1. Spiders

Mud daubers love spiders, their primary food source, which is why you find them on spider-infested properties. Many of the other factors that attract spiders, such as moisture, also bring mud daubers. Spiders and mud daubers become active during the early spring in most climates. Female adult mud daubers hunt and paralyze spiders and then feed them to their larvae.

Mud daubers seal spiders within their nests to support their young. They can fit up to 24 small spiders in a single nest, which can help control the spider population on your property. This is one of many reasons you should consider leaving the mud daubers alone.

2. Moisture/Mud

Mud daubers love mud, and they’re most active in areas with lots of wet soil. They continually haul mud back and forth from the source to their nests. They build nests using mud, saliva, twigs, and other debris in your yard. They also need water, so a wet yard provides nearly everything they need to survive. They will drink water from any source they can find in your yard.

That includes puddles, fountains, swimming pools, hot tubs, and bird baths. You will see an influx of mud daubers throughout the spring and early summer, especially in rainy climates. Since you can’t remove all the mud from your yard, you can regrade it to reduce puddles. You can also remove fountains and bird baths if your mud dauber problem gets out of hand.

3. Shelter

Like other flying insects, mud daubers don’t like to be out in the open. That’s especially true when nesting, when they protect themselves and their young. You will find more mud daubers around your house if your property has plenty of hiding spots, starting with the porch. They often build nests on a covered and secure porch, as well as under the eaves along your home’s roof, so they can protect their young and easily gather resources as needed.

You may also find mud dauber nests in your garage during the peak of spring and summer. That’s why it’s so important to keep your garage door closed whenever you’re not parking the car. Other common shelter spots include gazebos, pergolas, sheds, and other small and secure structures. If you see something that looks like a good hiding spot, there’s a chance mud daubers also have their eyes on it.

Are Mud Daubers Beneficial?

Mud daubers are good to have around, especially if your property is infested with problematic spiders. They prey on many spiders, brown recluse, black widow, orb, and jumping spiders, among others. Mud daubers help balance the spider population on your property, which is especially useful if you have any dangerous archnids. You can find mud daubers in all 50 U.S. states, and brown recluses are native to 16 states.

Letting mud daubers kill spiders is much safer than spraying chemicals around your property. That doesn’t mean you should let mud daubers fly around your house to kill spiders, but they can at least kill spiders outside your house to ensure they don’t enter your home. Mud daubers don’t sting people as often as common wasps do, but you should still be careful around them.

How To Keep Mud Daubers Away

While mud daubers can benefit you and your property, you may not necessarily want them around. They can sting you and get into your house if you’re not careful. You can deter mud daubers using a few simple methods, such as:

Remove Yard Debris

Not only does yard debris look bad, but it can also attract mud daubers and many problematic pests such as snakes, mice, moles, groundhogs, ants, and other pests that are drawn to yard debris. A messy yard provides shelter and attracts the bugs that they eat.

Mud daubers love yard debris because they use it to build nests, which are made of mud, and also contain twigs and other yard debris. Remove twigs, branches, gumballs, and other debris, so mud daubers can’t fortify their nests.

Seal Exterior Wall/Roof Cracks

Mud daubers build nests in many spots, and that includes the gaps and cracks in your home’s exterior walls and roof. TYou may not see these nests as they’re tucked away instead of protruding from under your porch roof. You may accidentally agitate mud daubers that you didn’t even know were there in the first place. You can easily seal exterior wall cracks with caulk, and you don’t even need to hire a professional. You may want to hire a professional to seal cracks under your roof’s eaves or on your roof.

Keep Them Away Naturally

Mud daubers and many other flying insects and pests are quite sensitive to certain scents and natural materials. This includes peppermint oil, garlic oil, coffee grounds, tea tree oil, citrus oil, and more. Mud daubers have a strong sense of smell and will likely avoid areas that you treat with these natural deterrents. Scatter coffee grounds around your home’s exterior perimeter to keep mud daubers away and infuse your soil with nitrogen and other nutrients. Fill a spray bottle with peppermint oil and water, then spray the exterior walls, porch, and areas where you find mud daubers.

Mimic Their Competitors

Mud daubers are afraid of other stinging insects. That’s especially true if you live in an area with hornets, which are more aggressive than mud daubers. You can use that to your advantage and trick mud daubers to think hornets are moving into their territory.

Stuff a brown paper bag with loose paper, tie the top, and hang it to mimic a hornet’s nest. When done correctly, mud daubers will see the fake nest and assume that hornets are active in the area and move somewhere else to avoid conflict with hornets. If possible, hang the fake nest near where you see mud daubers to send a strong message.

Use Sugar Traps

People use sugar traps to get rid of wasps every spring and summer, and they’re quite effective. You can find ready-to-use wasp traps online. They feature holes that mud daubers, wasps, and carpenter bees can crawl into, but they can’t crawl out. Fill the bottom of the trap with a layer of sugar, honey, or another sweet substance.

Pour water into the trap until it reaches the recommended line. Close the lid, then hang the trap in an area where mud daubers are active. The sweet smell will attract them into the trap, where they will get stuck. Eventually, they will drown.

Summing It Up

Spiders, moisture, mud, and yard debris attract mud daubers to your house. They use mud and yard debris, such as twigs, to build their nests, so you must remove such debris as needed. You can keep mud daubers away by using sugar traps, sealing cracks in the wall, and creating fake hornet nests.

Related Guides:

• 14 Ways To Wasp-Proof Your Yard In The Fall
• Who Do You Call To Get Rid Of A Hornet’s Nest?