Long time card Talkers will recall the Killer Bees thread - now I am infested with Killer Wasps.
A neighbor walked over and told me there were some large wasps near my sidewalk. We've had wasp problems before, my dog was stung several times last year, so I figured I'd beter chck it out.
I haven't been near this section of the yard for a while since the grass hasn't been growing from the drought, and I found several large dirt mounds, like big ant hills. I had some Wasp Killer spray, and when suddenly one of the wasps began flying around me, I killed it.I sprayed some in a couple of the nests too. The wasps were huge, larger than any I had ever seen.

We took the dead one back to the house and looked them up on the net - these are Cicada Killer Wasps, they kill cicadas, but are mostly harmless to people, they seldom sting humans. Sorry I killed a couple of them now, they only last a few weeks if any of you see them in your yard.

I like the Cicadas. They only show up in August here and last just a few weeks. Every year for the last several there seems to be fewer Cicadas. I suspect its because of all the West Nile spraying that goes on. The mosquitos keep going strong, but other insects like fuzzy caterpillars and fireflies seem to have practically disappeared from my back yard.

I would not like a wasp mound out there, harmless or not. A few years ago a nest of yellowjackets got in the bricks and all of a sudden they were in my front room. Ever run around your house like a madman chasing buzzing wasps with a newspaper? I'd rather listen to a Cicada.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Norton:

these are Cicada Killer Wasps, they kill cicadas, but are mostly harmless to people, they seldom sting humans. Sorry I killed a couple of them now.

" Sorry ain't gonna cut it, watch your back "

Mr Wasp.

Went out and observed these things this morning. Saw 2 dragging cicadas to their nests. It's amazing how large these wasps are, never saw them before.

We used to get these in our back yard. Harmless or not, they scared the **** out of me! I killed them every chance I got. I'd wake up in the morning and they'd be hanging all over the screen door.

quote:

Originally posted by Don Norton:
Went out and observed these things this morning. Saw 2 dragging cicadas to their nests. It's amazing how large these wasps are, never saw them before.

It is pretty amazing that the wasp can actually fly while carrying the cicadas. I have them in one of my small gardens in my yard. I too had never seen or heard of them until about 5 years ago when then showed up in my flower garden. I did read that they like to nest in areas that have been disturbed. I usually start to see them around the 3 or 4th week in June and the are usually gone by the 1st week in August. They use the cicadas as a food source for their egg they lay inside it.

I have found that they are not aggressive despite their large size.

Started getting these in my yard several years ago. Now it is a summer ritual to kill a good number of them every year. They are relatively harmless but are quite annoying during the heat of the day. Several write ups on the internet about them. They do quite a bit of damage to the lawn area which is why I go after them.

They are not as bad as stink bugs though.