Eastern cicada killers are the largest wasps! They dig burrows each summer in well-drained lawns, ball fields, and plant nurseries!
The female cicada is about 1-1/8 inch long. the male is slightly smaller. The abdomen is black with light yellow markings. The head and wigs are rusty red. The female will carry a dead cicada back to her burrow and put it in a nest cell. She will then lay an egg on it and seal the cell. A grub hatches from the egg in a few days. Then it will eat the dead cicada and live during the winter underground in a hard cocoon which it weaves. It will pupate in the spring and hatch in July or august. It then digs its way to the surface and lives above ground for 2-6 weeks. Cicada's die annually! Despite their large size their sting hearts no more than a normal honey be.
The female wasps are not defensive, they will only sting if caught by bare hand or caught in one's clothing! Males will chase after other wasps or even buzz around humans, if one comes into their territory, but they have no stingers!
Olivia Postlewait Science Discovery: Cicada Killers
Eastern cicada killers are the largest wasps! They dig burrows each summer in well-drained lawns, ball fields, and plant nurseries!The female cicada is about 1-1/8 inch long. the male is slightly smaller. The abdomen is black with light yellow markings. The head and wigs are rusty red. The female will carry a dead cicada back to her burrow and put it in a nest cell. She will then lay an egg on it and seal the cell. A grub hatches from the egg in a few days. Then it will eat the dead cicada and live during the winter underground in a hard cocoon which it weaves. It will pupate in the spring and hatch in July or august. It then digs its way to the surface and lives above ground for 2-6 weeks. Cicada's die annually! Despite their large size their sting hearts no more than a normal honey be.
The female wasps are not defensive, they will only sting if caught by bare hand or caught in one's clothing! Males will chase after other wasps or even buzz around humans, if one comes into their territory, but they have no stingers!