Thank you for being here!
July 18, 2011 10:08 pm
Dear Bugman,
Over the past few months since discovering your site, I have spent countless hours with my nose pressed up to the monitor searching for this or that newest discovery. It began with an infamous “Toe-Biter” and continued with a pair of wood grubs that my boyfriend and I raised through the winter which turned out to be a couple of Osmoderma eremicola beetles. Fast forward to today, when I was asked at work to identify an enormous flying wasp which turned out to be a Cicada Killer. By so quickly discovering what had been flying around the office I became a hero, and the life of the wasp was spared as I was able to relay the details of it’s relative harmlessness. Facinating insect! This information came in handy quite unexpectedly and much to my relief a few hours later as in the garden I felt something quite large crawling over the top of my sandled foot. Another cicada killer! We had just experianced a strong thunderstorm with high winds and heavy rain, and I have  feeling that
this soggy and sluggish creature was still disoriented by the pummeling it had just taken. Now as much as I love insects, to see something of that size and resembling a hornet as it does, I normally would have reacted with significantly more panic. However, with my recently acquired knowledge, I was able to gently replace her on the ground without fear of harm. A little information goes a long way! Oh yes -after witnessing my collectedness in it’s removal whilst explaining the taxonomy and life cycle of a ‘giant scary bug’, my boyfriend now thinks I’m superwoman. So thanks all around! You do awesome work!
Signature: DaleShannon

Cicada Killer and prey

Dear DaleShannon, superwoman,
Thanks so much for your personal account regarding the Cicada Killer.  At this time of year we find ourselves working overtime to try to convince people that they do not need to exterminate every wasp they encounter.  It seems there is this general perception that the safety of children is compromised if there is a wasp anywhere within 100 feet of a toddler.  We try to lobby for the preservation of these necessary creatures in the food chair, though the protective hysteria that seems to accompany parenting often overwhelms common sense and a respect for other living creatures.  We have pulled a photo of a Cicada Killer from our archives to accompany this posting.

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What is it?
Location: Northern NJ
July 17, 2011 10:02 pm
Saw about 25 of these on the farm over the last 2-3 days
Signature: Curious in NJ

Cicada Killer

Dear Curious,
WE are relieved to have finally received a new photo of a living Cicada Killer, a species of Sand Wasp.  Because of their large size, many people are terrified of Cicada Killers and they frequently become Unnecessary Carnage.  Cicada Killers might sting if provoked, however, they are not an aggressive species.  Females dig a nest in sandy soil and provision it with paralyzed Cicadas that will feed her brood after she dies.

Daniel
Thanks very much for the reply.  Unfortunately we have a small child that plays in the area where we have recently noticed these Wasps and are concerned for her health.  Is there anything we can do to chase them away or can we somehow locate the nest and exterminate if necessary?

That is sad, and we apologize as we do not give extermination advice.

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Large Wasp!
Location: New Orleans, LA
July 10, 2011 7:06 pm
I found this on my back porch, it is the second one I have found and am curious what it is and if I need to start looking for a nest of some sort? This is the largest wasp I have ever seen (if it is a wasp?)
Signature: –Christopher

with a little more digging I found out what type it was online.  Found (and killed) in New Orleans, Louisiana.  Apparently they’re a local bug, but it’s only the 2nd one I’ve ever seen in 30+ years.
Thought you’d be interested to know if you didn’t know already!  Cicada Killer, Sphecius speciosus

Cicada Killer

Hi Christoper,
This is a Cicada Killer and it is a Sand Wasp in the tribe Bembicini.  Whenever we try to lobby in support of Cicada Killers, we get some heat.  Cicada Killers are solitary wasps and a female will dig a burrow that she provisions with paralyzed Cicadas that become the food for her developing brood of larvae, so you would not be looking for a traditional Wasp’s Nest.  When there is sandy soil that Cicada Killers find attractive for nesting, a colony may develop, but they are not social wasps like hornets.  We receive several letters each year from people who have unwanted colonies of Cicada Killers, complaining that the Cicada Killers are aggressive.  Males defend territory and will dive bomb anything that enters the territory, but males lack stingers.  Larger females do not tend to be aggressive, but they possess stingers and they might sting.  We have not received any authenticated reports of anyone actually being stung by a Cicada Killer, though we would not rule out that possibility.

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Cicada Killer and Carnage
July 8, 2011 9:32 am
Sigh. How I love bugs.  I teach my children never to harm them, unless…  I am now in year-3 of a cycle of Cicada Killers attempting to nest in my sandy front lawn.  There seem to be dozens of them this year and, as I have two curious toddlers, they have become a danger -the wasps that is. (I am highly allergic to wasp venom and my toddlers may be as well.) So it is with a heavy heart that I must try to “encourage” them to move some place else.  They “dive bomb” as soon as we walk out the door and I’ve taken to defending myself and family with a tennis racket. However they are wily! They fly at full speed to just out of racket range then swerve.  (Without the racket they come all the way in) If I make the mistake of taking an early swing, they get really angry.  One attacked me from behind as I was standing still.  I heard it, and was lucky to swat it with my racket with a blind swing.
I’ve done my best to leave them alone.  But there are just too many and I can no longer enjoy my yard.  Sprays don’t seem to work (unless I hit each individual) and if I stomp on their tunnels, they just build more.  HOW DO I GET THEM TO TAKE THEIR BUSINESS ELSEWHERE?!  (Again, I do not WANT to kill them) I know you don’t like extermination, but they are in MY territory and I want it back!
Please help!
Signature: David Asterbury

Cicada Killer and Prey (photo taken by dc from our archives)

Hi David,
We want to post your letter immediately and we want some time to ponder the entirety of our response.  Cicada Killers are big, and since they are wasps, they are scary.  We can say that the male Cicada Killers divebomb anything that enters the territory that they are trying to guard, but male Cicada Killers have no stinger.  Female Cicada Killers have a stinger and they might sting a person, however, we have never received a verified report of anyone being stung by a Cicada Killer.  Stinging culprits have turned out to be Hornets in the past.   You did not provide a location.

Additional Information
Thanks for the response!
Location: Northern Virginia.  Newly planted front lawn bed.  (Still just dirt, with “sprouts” of grass)
If I may retort one thing: This is not an issue of “being scared”.  I’m a former Green Beret who’s spent a lifetime outside and had all kinds of bugs crawling through my wide open sleeping mouth at night in the woods, etc.  If I was “scared” of them, I wouldn’t be standing there with my tennis racket.  But your point is well taken.  I think you mean to propose that killing them is not necessary, or the correct response; because they may do no harm at all.  And, my friend, this is why I write – because I hope you are right!
I love all God’s creatures and I only will harm something that poses some kind of a threat or risk to me (or others) in “our own” environment.  (In other words, I think it unconscionable to kill – ANYTHING when I am in that creatures’ domain.  This is why, if they were nesting 100 feet away – I would not care.  (In fact, how DO I get them into my neighbors’ yard? – Kidding.)
However, in this case the issue relates to:
1. Risk of sting (obviously there is some level of risk – I just don’t know what that is, and I have to go by my many years of experience dealing with “critters” of all kinds to gauge that.)
2. Risk of harm from sting:  As mentioned, I am highly allergic to wasp, hornet and bee venom (all in slightly different ways, as the venoms are not the same), I suspect my children may be as well.  In my case, a sting will cause anaphylaxis.  In the case of my 1 year old, a similar response could cause death.
3. Risk from other harms from sting:  Frankly, stings hurt like hell.  I don’t care so much if it is me, but if my child suffers, pain and pychological terror because I was trying to protect the insect, well, that’s just wrong and I won’t let that happen.  After all, a bunch of stings in childhood is a GREAT way to raise an insect-fearing and killing person!
4. Benefit of having the creature: Cicadas are a food source for many creatures (heck, I’ve eaten them myself and they’re not bad).  Burrowing C. Killers help cut down on the numbers of them when they are swarming.  C. Killer burrows help aerate the soil. C. Killers are, like I said a gift from God to us and to the world – part of the planet to enjoy, etc.  They have a right to be here.
Bottom line is:  They don’t have a “right” to be digging across a 50X20 area of my front lawn right by my front door!  I haven’t encroached on “their space” or anything either.  (Not new developed area in the woods somewhere)  We’ve just got a lot of Cicadas over the last decade.  Maybe if you could tell me that, by way of scientific deduction, the phrase “We’ve never had a reported sting” means that there is a “Law of No Sting From C.Killers” then I might feel better about the risk to pain, injury and life.  Otherwise, I am going to pursue some means of dissuasion including death.
Sorry for the lengthy response.  I just wanted to put my perspective on it for clarity.
Last:  I am now pursuing the use of a broad spectrum granulated insecticide (only in the areas where the ground is most enticing.)  My plan is to spread it into the entrance ways of the tunnels during dry weather, then spray/hit with racket any that come out.  Next, I am going to try to grow grass there, then, once I have some grass, I am going to attempt to compact the soil to make it less attractive.  Something tells me this may require a multi-year effort.
PLEASE do offer any other advice that you think might obviate the need for the more drastic approach, because, I don’t own a flame thrower, and I hate using pesticides!  (Kills all kinds of good bugs!)
Thank you so very much for your reply!
D.A.
P.S. One that dive bombed me, and which I killed a mere 6 inches from my head was a female with a great big ole stinger.  Maybe she was just going to kiss me?

Thanks for the additional information David.  We did not mean to trivialize your dilemma.  Obviously your safety and that of your children needs to outweigh the presence of Cicada Killers.  Compacting the soil and planting the area should make the area less attractive.  We have no authenticated scientific data regarding the frequency of stings.  We apologize for not having any other solution for you.

Thank you again for your response.  I am sure that you get many, so I appreciate you taking the time to respond to mine.
Just to update you with the outcome:  I got up at 4AM, before they were awake, and used a granulated pesticide in and near their holes and around the general area of loose soil.  I then squashed their tubes/holes and walked the area to compact it a bit more.
It seems to have done the trick.  I have seen a few come by now, but they think better of it and fly elsewhere.  In general, I have made the soil less attractive to them and, I hope, without causing too much damage.  Hopefully by next year they will have found another place to nest.
Thanks again and I love your web site!
Take care,
D.A.

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