Cicada Killer Wasp in Maumelle Saturday, August 2, 2008

Found something burrowing a nest in my yard this morning. I sent my dog to see what it was. He dug for just a second and left in a hurry. That assured me it wasn’t a mouse. So, after playing with the burrow by putting sand in the entrance and watching something push it out again, I finally saw the insect. I captured her carefully and took a picture. Then, I emailed to my good friend CAMN Vera B to see if she knew what it was and if she wanted it for her bug collection. She is a fantastic resource for me because she knows her insects! Her email brought new respect for the Cicada Killer Wasp, or Sand Hornet. My duties as a Master Gardener brought me to the County Extension Agency to answer the phones and sure enough, I got a call about it. Luckily, because of Vera and my finding one, I could quickly ID it from her description and tell the woman not to panic. Cicada Killer Wasps rarely sting. In fact, the males have no sting. The size of this wasp is enough to scare anybody though. The females are solitary and dig holds in lawns, kicking out a 6″ pile of dirt. Which is what I found in my back yard. They appear in late summer when the cicadas are out in force. The female stings a cicada, take it up a tree, straddles it and carries it off to her nest. Each egg gets a couple. In the burrow she might have 10-20 cells, each with an egg and food. They are also called sand hornets. Look around you for this unique wasp.