We called them dirt daubers...are they good or bad?

A group of these flying turbs have landed in my greenhouse. They are nesting up in my fruit trees during the evening. They like to dive bomb my face but they haven't tried to sting me. I cannot tell if they are dirt/mudd daubers. They don't seem to be making one of there nests.  Are they a pest I need to rid of or a friend eating other trouble makers? Hard to get a close enough photo before they scatter and fly around me.

I can't tell from the pictures if they are mud daubers. If they are, I get along well with them. They are predators, and they LOVE the cabbage moth caterpillars that eat my brassicas.

I have no issues with them, but my opinion on most stinging bugs is if you don't start fights, they won't react hostilely. If you think about it, flying bugs don't run into trees or posts. if you don't confuse them by trying to dodge them, they fly around you. I don't swat at them, or jump around at them. I have not been stung, despite being around a lot of them.

When I'm working in the garden I'll often see a caterpillar they couldn't reach due to it being in the curl of a kale, if there's a wasp there I'll open it up and hold it open so the wasp can snag it.

I like them, and make nesting places for them to encourage them. Good predators. Just don't start fights with them. :D
I also consider them good burglar deterrent. I have thought about putting up a sign that says Beware of Wasps!  Might be more effective than a Beware of Dogs sign. Lot of people have deep fears of them.

Pearl is right.

If they are in your fruit tress like they are mine, they are hunting. They are the good guys. I consider most wasp species the good guys after watching them in my garden. I don't knock down any nests or anything anymore unless they are in a doorway.

I even like certain species of flies. I watched one one day attacking the back of a tomato hornworm, it was biting it so badly the worm was "bleeding" green juice out it's back as it was trying to defend itself. It didn't have a chance..

There is also a species of squash bug type bug. Instead of it being the common looking one's(gray to dark brown) it was blackish with orange tufts around it's back legs and it's legs were longer than the reg. ones.
I used to kill them, but a few years back I watched one on one of my fruit trees eating a Japanese beetle, I also found them on my tomatoes later in that season and they do some damage, but I let them live and shared considering it was also a predator. Not many bugs that I know of want to eat or are able to kill the Japanese Beetle. I now know of at least 1, thank goodness.

Pearl Sutton wrote:I can't tell from the pictures if they are mud daubers. If they are, I get along well with them. They are predators, and they LOVE the cabbage moth caterpillars that eat my brassicas.

I have no issues with them, but my opinion on most stinging bugs is if you don't start fights, they won't react hostilely. If you think about it, flying bugs don't run into trees or posts. if you don't confuse them by trying to dodge them, they fly around you. I don't swat at them, or jump around at them. I have not been stung, despite being around a lot of them.

When I'm working in the garden I'll often see a caterpillar they couldn't reach due to it being in the curl of a kale, if there's a wasp there I'll open it up and hold it open so the wasp can snag it.

I like them, and make nesting places for them to encourage them. Good predators. Just don't start fights with them. :D
I also consider them good burglar deterrent. I have thought about putting up a sign that says Beware of Wasps!  Might be more effective than a Beware of Dogs sign. Lot of people have deep fears of them.

Yeah I can't tell for sure. But they are kind of driving me crazy. I can't walk into my green house without them flying around my head. I did power wash them off once haha because I was annoyed but that didn't stop them haha.  I'll try to get a better photo.

Pearl Sutton wrote:

Yeah I can't tell for sure. But they are kind of driving me crazy. I can't walk into my green house without them flying around my head. I did power wash them off once haha because I was annoyed but that didn't stop them haha.  I'll try to get a better photo.

If your greenhouse is enclosed besides a vent they are probably getting trapped. It's going to be hard to keep them out unless you cover the vent with a screen. They look for ideal places to start their clay/dirt egg/larvae whatever they are called. They have to have them under shelter from rain and sun because if not they will wash away or dry out and their eggs will die.

If it is enclosed and you do have an unscreened vent. I would suggest try to screen it from the outside. If you screen it from the inside they will still build their nests in the vent area and it might make the vent not work properly or stop it from working all together until the nests are removed. I know some of the vent styles are protruding to the outside, so it might have to incorporate a frame for clearance.

If it isn't enclosed ... there is really no fix. They will always be there. I'm sorry. They won't hurt you.

I had computer issues this morning and lost this reply twice, let's see if this ones goes through...

If they are swarming you when you walk in the greenhouse, it may be something like the shampoo you use or something you are wearing. A lot of insects like some odors, I don't know what exactly wasps like, but I know some herbal beard oils interest them. Bees like lemongrass oil, you use it to move them into new hives.
I wear no fragrances, they ignore me.

They are the good guys.  I have never been stung by one and simply ignore them.

Look who I found on my coffee mug needing a drink. I gave her a drop of coffee =) She was still slurping away as I carried her outside.

You're very welcome my friend...My garden is to the left.....thank you.