Biology:Chalybion

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Chalybion, also known as blue mud-dauber wasps, is a genus of wasp in the family Sphecidae.[1] The species often nest in old, abandoned mud nests of other species and in pre-existing cavities.

Taxonomy and phylogeny

Chalybion was originally described as a genus by Dahlbom in 1843. Kohl demoted Chalybion to a subgenus of Sceliphron in 1918 and established Hemichalybion as a sister subgenus of Sceliphron. Both Chalybion and Hemichalybion were elevated to genus status by Bohart and Menke in 1963. The same authors then demoted Hemichalybion to a subgenus of Chalybion in 1976.[2]

Distribution and habitat

Chalybion species are present in all continents except for Antarctica though are most common in the Nearctic[3] and Paleotropic regions.[4]

Behavior

Females of Chalybion species nest in a wide range of natural or artificial pre-existing cavities, such as holes in stone,[5] wood, in walls, and in plant stems.[3] They also reuse old mud nests of other wasps, including those of Trypoxylon, Sceliphron,[6] Eumeninae,[7] and Ageniellini,[8] or old mud nests of bees.[9]

C. californicum in particular is known for repurposing old nests of Sceliphron caementarium.[2] The females then hunt and paralyze spiders, particularly of the families Araneidae and Theridiidae, which they use as provisions their brood cells.[6]

Interaction with other species

The nests of Chalybion may, themselves, be repurposed by other mud-nesting wasps, such as Eumeninae.[4]

Species

There are 54 described living species of Chalybion:[2][10]

Subgenus Chalybion (Chalybion) Agassiz, 1846

  • Chalybion fuscum (Lepeletier, 1845) (Madagascar, Sri Lanka)
  • Chalybion ohli Dollfuss, 2016
  • Chalybion yangi Li, 1995

Chalybion bengalense species-group

  • Chalybion bengalense (Dahlbom, 1845) (Hawaii, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, Socotra, South Africa; introduced in Italy[11])
  • Chalybion clarebaltazarae Abenis & Lit, 2020
  • Chalybion flebile (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)
  • Chalybion japonicum (Gribodo, 1880) (China, Japan, Ryukyu Islands, South Korea, Tanzania, Thailand)
  • Chalybion klapperichi (Balthasar, 1957)
  • Chalybion minos (de Beaumont, 1965)
  • Chalybion omissum (Kohl, 1889)
  • Chalybion petroleum Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion saudiarabicum Schmid-Egger, 2025
  • Chalybion stephenreyesi Abenis & Lit, 2020
  • Chalybion turanicum (Gussakovskij, 1935)
  • Chalybion vechti Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion walteri (Kohl, 1889)
  • Chalybion zimmermanni Dahlbom, 1843 (North America)
    • Chalybion zimmermanni zimmermanni Dahlbom, 1843
    • Chalybion zimmermanni aztecum (de Saussure, 1867)
    • Chalybion zimmermanni peninsulare R. Bohart and Menke, 1963

Chalybion californicum species-group

Chalybion fabricator species-group

  • Chalybion accline (Kohl, 1918)
  • Chalybion fabricator (F. Smith, 1860)
  • Chalybion hainanense Terayama & Tano, 2018
  • Chalybion lividum Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion magnum Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion malignum (Kohl, 1906)
  • Chalybion sulawesii Ohl & Höhn, 2011[1]
  • Chalybion tanvinhense Pham, Ohl, & Truong, 2019[8]

Chalybion gredleri species-group

  • Chalybion gredleri (Kohl, 1918) (Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • Chalybion triangulum Hensen, 1988 (Central African Republic, Gambia, Togo)

Chalybion incisum species-group

  • Chalybion incisum Hensen, 1988

Chalybion madecassum species-group

  • Chalybion bonneti Leclercq, 1966 (Madagascar)
  • Chalybion dolichothorax (Kohl, 1918)
  • Chalybion frontale (Kohl, 1906)
  • Chalybion gracile Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion iridescens Pham & Ohl, 2025
  • Chalybion madecassum (Gribodo, 1883) (Madagascar, Seychelles Islands)
  • Chalybion polyphemus Hensen, 1988

Chalybion tibiale species-group

  • Chalybion ammophiloides Hensen, 1988
  • Chalybion bocandei (Spinola, 1851)
    • Chalybion bocandei bocandei (Spinola, 1851) (Ghana, Guinea, Liberia, Sierre Leone)
    • Chalybion bocandei aeronitens Hensen, 1988 (Central African Republic, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • Chalybion heinii (Kohl, 1906)
  • Chalybion henseni Schmid-Egger, 2025
  • Chalybion kenyae Hensen, 1988 (Kenya)
  • Chalybion laevigatum (Kohl, 1888) (Botswana, Ethiopia, Mozambique, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zanzibar)
  • Chalybion mochii Hensen, 1988 (Kenya)
  • Chalybion parvulum Hensen, 1988 (Kenya)
  • Chalybion planatum (Arnold, 1951) (Ethiopia)
  • Chalybion ruficorne Hensen, 1988 (Central African Republic)
  • Chalybion schulthessirechbergi (Kohl, 1918) (Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • Chalybion sommereni (R.Turner, 1920) (Angola, Kenya, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • Chalybion tibiale (Fabricius, 1781) (South Africa)
  • Chalybion tomentosum Hensen, 1988

Subgenus Chalybion (Hemichalybion) Kohl, 1918

Chalybion spinolae species-group

  • Chalybion clypeatum (Fairmaire, 1858) (Angola, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Gabon, Mozambique, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo)
    • Chalybion clypeatum clypeatum (Fairmaire, 1858)
    • Chalybion clypeatum lusingi (Leclercq, 1955) (Democratic Republic of Congo)
    • Chalybion clypeatum kiloensis (Leclercq, 1955) (Democratic Republic of Congo)
  • Chalybion spinolae (Lepeletier de Saint Fargeau, 1845)
    • Chalybion spinolae spinolae (Lepeletier, 1845) (Ethiopia, South Africa, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo)
    • Chalybion spinolae rufopictum (Magretti, 1884) (Eritrea, Ethiopia, Mali)
    • Chalybion spinolae saussurei (Kohl, 1918) (South Africa)
  • Chalybion sumatranum (Kohl, 1884)

Chalybion femoratum species-group

  • Chalybion femoratum (Fabricius, 1781)[12]

Extinct species

There is one described fossil species of Chalybion:[10]

  • Chalybion mortuum Cockerell, 1907

See also

  • C. (Hemichalybion) spinolae in South Africa.
    C. (Hemichalybion) spinolae in South Africa.
  • C. (Chalybion) bengalense in India.
    C. (Chalybion) bengalense in India.
  • C. (Chalybion) californicum in North Carolina.
    C. (Chalybion) californicum in North Carolina.
  • C. (Chalybion) femoratum in Italy.
    C. (Chalybion) femoratum in Italy.
  • C. (Chalybion) flebile in Spain.
    C. (Chalybion) flebile in Spain.
  • C. (Chalybion) japonicum in Japan.
    C. (Chalybion) japonicum in Japan.
  • C. (Chalybion) zimmermanni aztecum in Texas.
    C. (Chalybion) zimmermanni aztecum in Texas.
  • C. (Chalybion) zimmermanni zimmermanni in Arkansas.
    C. (Chalybion) zimmermanni zimmermanni in Arkansas.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Ohl, Michael; Höhn, Patrick (2011-09-23). "Taxonomy, bionomics, and ecology of a new species of the blue mud-dauber wasp genus Chalybion from Sulawesi (Hymenoptera, Apoidea)" (in en). Zoosystematics and Evolution 87 (2): 335–348. doi:10.1002/zoos.201100011. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 Hensen, R.V. (1988). "Revision of the nominate subgenus Chalybion Dahlbom (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)". Tijdschrift voor Entomologie 131: 13-64. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico". Smithsonian Institution Press. 1979. https://library.si.edu/digital-library/book/catalogofhymenop02krom. Retrieved 2026-05-20. 
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Fateryga, Alexander V.; Kovblyuk, Mykola M.; Kvetkov, Roman S. (2020). "The first data on the nesting biology of the invasive blue nest-renting wasp, Chalybion turanicum (Gussakovskij, 1935) (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae, Sceliphrinae) in the Crimea". Acta Biologica Sibirica 6: 571–582. doi:10.3897/abs.6.e57911. 
  5. ↑ Selvamurugan, Selvaraj. "The New record of Zimmermann's mud wasp (Chalybion zimmermanni Dahlbom, 1843) from India". Social Science Research Network Electronic Journal. doi:10.2139/ssrn.4624221. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 Bohart, Richard; Menke, Arnold (1976). Sphecid Wasps of the World - A Generic Revision. University of California Press. pp. 98-103. ISBN 978-0-520-02318-5. https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_FExMjuRhjpIC. 
  7. ↑ Le DiveLec, Romain (2024). "Chalybion bengalense (Dahlbom, 1845), une nouvelle espèce exotique en France métropolitaine (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)". Bulletin de la Société entomologique de France 129 (1): 13-16. doi:10.32475/bsef_2320. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Pham, Phong Huy; Ohl, Michael; Truong, Lam Xuan (2019-12-19). "The genus Chalybion Dahlbom, 1843 (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae) from Northwest Vietnam, with description of a new species" (in en). Zootaxa 4712 (2). doi:10.11646/zootaxa.4712.2.2. PMID 32230684. http://publication.plazi.org/id/A032FFB2BF1FFFF7FFF1FF948A73FFA8. 
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Mei, Maurizio; Boščík, Ivo (2016). "Evidence of the introduction into Europe of the Nearctic mud-dauber wasp Chalybion californicum (de Saussure) (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)". Boletín de la Sociedad Entomológica Aragonesa (58): 239-240. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/330467769. Retrieved 2019-10-21. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Pulawski, Wojciech J. (16 May 2026). "Chalybion". California Academy of Sciences. https://researcharchive.calacademy.org/research/entomology/Entomology_Resources/Hymenoptera/sphecidae/genera/Chalybion.pdf. Retrieved 2026-05-20. 
  11. ↑ Mei, Maurizio; Pezzi, Giorgio; De Togni, Remo; Devincenzo, Umberto (2012). "The oriental mud-dauber wasp Chalybion bengalense (Dahlbom) introduced in Italy (Hymenoptera, Sphecidae)". Ampulex 5: 37-41. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304717620. Retrieved 2017-07-31. 
  12. ↑ Tormos, Josè; Polidori, Carlo; Asís, Josep Daniel (2006). "Description of the prepupa of Chalybion femoratum (Hymenoptera: Sphecidae), with comments on larval characters in the genus". The Florida Entomologist 89 (3): 388–390. doi:10.1653/0015-4040(2006)89[388:DOTPOC2.0.CO;2]. 

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