The "Mop Wasp"

  Early this afternoon, I needed to empty remnants of the fig-preserving process into the compost pile.  The heap is out the back door and down behind the shed.  All went well as I hiked out to do the chore but coming back inside gave me a reason to pause.   Hanging off the edge of the back porch is an old mop that is used to slosh water around on the porch floor when a good cleaning is needed.  The mop hangs there doing nothing most of the time as it is not my "inside" mop.  This is one of the good, old-fashioned style mops with the stringed head.  The mop, itself, was not particularly interesting but, for some odd reason, a wasp was eating it.  THAT was interesting!  Why was a wasp pulling strings off of the mop?

  I got to looking at that wasp and had to admit that I did not recognize it at all.  It bore a great similarity to several of the wasps that call the place home but it was not identical to any of them.  I did know one thing!  It was one of those, more or less, harmless ones so I knew I could watch without any cause for alarm.  I eased back inside the house and got the camera.  As with all things around here, I HAD to photograph it!  Critters are getting pretty used to my camera being shoved in their faces!  This wasp was oblivious to my efforts to get the perfect shot.  If I can get a clear picture, it helps tremendously in identifying the critter.

  To be honest, my photos turned out rather well but none were a perfect match to any of those on the wasp ID charts.  The wasp highly resembled the mud daubers but, then again, it did not.  It was smaller and had less yellow.  The legs of this wasp were more of a reddish tone.  My friend was also a lot like a thread-waisted wasp but still not a perfect match.  So, I kept digging until I came upon a blog about grass-carrying wasps.  Ok, so I have to admit that I have never heard of this ilk.  Reading further, it sure seemed to match my critter but I was still not certain.

  One thing is for sure, the "whatever" wasp was mighty interested in that old mop.  For the rest of the afternoon, the critter made numerous attacks on the mop, gnawed/tugged off a bit of string and flew to parts unknown with its treasure. Me?  I am just as bewildered as I was earlier.  I guess a grass-carrying wasp can take a liking to a mop string if it wishes.  Personally, it matters not to me if it takes the entire mop.  Maybe, I have a new critter called a "Mop Wasp"!