Someone mentioned that they thought they had seen cicada killers recently.
My backyard is now invaded by them. This happened just today. One of them (drowned in the pool) was almost as big as my thumb, well over two inches long!
That is a female, which are easily distinguishable from the males, by their curved abdomens and concealed stingers. The males have a fake stinger permanently extended and their abdomens are thinner and not curved downward.
The game's afoot! The females are digging nests and hunting.
Cicada killer wasps are active in July and August. The female digs one of more tunnels in soft soil (often flower beds or gardens) usually along an edge such as where the driveway or sidewalk meets the flower bed or lawn or where the flower bed meets the turf. These edges are landmarks that help the female find her way back to the burrow. Tunnels are about the size of a quarter and may extend 24 inches or more into the ground. The female flies to nearby trees to capture an annual cicada that she stings to paralyze and then labors to carry back to the burrow. One or two paralyzed cicadas are placed in each cell at the end of the tunnel and a single egg is deposited before the female closes the cell and flies away, never to return. The eggs hatch into legless larvae that feed on the cicadas and develop into wasps that emerge the following summer.
The cicada killer, like other solitary wasps, has the capability to sting, but won't unless handled or threatened. Only female wasps have the ability to sting. Stings inflicted by solitary wasps are usually not severe but reaction varies with each individual.
