Black and yellow mud dauber (with jumping spider prey)

Description:

This isn't the best photo series, but for me it was incredibly interesting. I've known for a long time how mud daubers provision their nests with immobilized spiders. This marks the first (and so far only) time I've seen one attacking a spider. I think I had caught sight of the jumping spider just seconds before the wasp flew in. I only had a few seconds to fire off some shots and sadly my flash wasn't set quite right. I didn't have time to adjust so I did my best. These had to be lightened considerably in order to bring out the wasp, but since they're the only images I have, I thought they were still worth sharing. It was a brief, yet intense encounter, and I stood in disbelief when the wasp flew away with the spider. Had I just witnessed that? :-)

Habitat:

Prairie/woodland mix