Pipe-organ Mud Wasp vs Geranium Bronze

Side-by-side species comparison

Attribute Pipe-organ Mud Wasp Geranium Bronze
Scientific Name Trypoxylon figulus Cacyreus marshalli
Order Hymenoptera Lepidoptera
Family Crabronidae Lycaenidae
Size 8-12 mm 18-23 mm wingspan
Habitat Underground Underground
Diet Predators Omnivores
Regions Europe Native to South Africa; invasive in Mediterranean Europe
Conservation Least Concern Least Concern

Pipe-organ Mud Wasp

A slender black solitary wasp that builds mud-tube nests in hollow stems and holes, provisioning them with paralyzed spiders. Named for the organ-pipe arrangement of its mud cells.

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Did You Know?

Builds multiple tube-shaped mud cells arranged like the pipes of a church organ.

Geranium Bronze

A small dull brown butterfly with a distinctive white fringe and thin tail that has become a major pest of cultivated geraniums in Europe. Its larvae bore into geranium buds and stems.

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Did You Know?

Since its accidental introduction to Majorca in 1990, it has spread across most of southern Europe.