Spider nest like wasp nest

[DJR723]

This morning I went to the porch to take down some wasp nests. Except they looked slightly different. Instead of the nest looking like 'honeycomb' it had only one hole for entry/exit. I just thought it was a different kind of wasp. I hit one with a broom, and it was hard, very unlike a wasp nest. I finally got it down and it was full of spiders. The were striped and semi colorful. I am baffled. This may be a common spider in the Houston, TX area. I have been here for 10 years and never noticed. The nest seemed to resemble hardened, dry dirt. There was a total of three nests. They were located in the same spot as previous wasp nests.

Does anyone have information on this? I tried google and could not come up with an answer.

 

[DJR723]

I think I found the answer to my question. This was a mud wasp. It paralyzes the spiders and entombs them. She then lays her eggs on the spiders so when the eggs hatch, her babies can feed on the spider. First time I have seen something like this. Pretty interesting.

 

[Brianhogs]

Mud Wasp. They lay an egg in the tomb and then stockpile a bunch of spiders in it for when the wasp hatches. But I've never seen them alive in the tomb.

 

[cjm1991]

Yeah we have alot of them in Missouri.