Cicada Killler Wasp
	Cicada Killer Wasps     Don't see what you're looking for? Click here for more examples. Need to control Cicada Killer wasps?  Click here Cicada-Killer COMMON NAME: Cicada Killer SCIENTIFIC NAME: Sphecius speciosus (Dury) CLASS / ORDER / FAMILY: Insecta / Hymenoptera / Sphecidae METAMORPHOSIS: Complete INTRODUCTION. These wasps get their common name from the fact that it hunts and provides for its young a Cicada that it places in each cell where the young mature. These wasps are fear-causing pests in that they look a lot like huge yellow jackets which cause a painful sting! They are found east of the Rocky Mountains RECOGNITION. The adults are large, about 1-5/8" long; robust and hairy. .Their color is black to rusty with yellowish bands or markings on the 1st     three abdominal segments. The thorax with pronotum is short and collar-like BIOLOGY. Cicada killers are solitary wasps and do not live in colonies or nests. These are solitary wasps, they are not social and do not live in colonies. There are males and females as adults Many individuals may fly over a lawn or other area, and they may live in the same area, but they do not share nests. Each female digs her own burrow which may be about a ½” in diameter and up to 10” deep. She will then locate a cicada and will sting it and brings it paralyzed back into her burrow. She may place from one to two cicadas in the burrow and the egg is deposited on one. The wasp larvae will then feed on the paralyzed cicada and may live in the burrow over-winter. They then pupate in spring and emerge as adults in the following summer, usually in July or August. The female will usually provision many such burrows. HABITS. These wasps appear typically over bare areas of ground which are used as nesting sites for their burrows. When digging the burrow , females excavate a very large pile of dirt which may prove to be unsightly in the lawn. Females rarely sting unless handled or stepped on. This occurs mostly with children. Males of this species do not sting.
This article was published on Monday 12 November, 2007.
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