Within the next week or so, cicadas will begin to emerge from the soil. Cicadas are those big, brown, "bugs" whose shells you have seen from the time you were a kid. You have seen them on fence posts, sides of buildings, tree trunks, and many other places. Most of us, at least when we were kids, collected the empty shells and played with them. At the least, the little boys tried to scare the little girls with them.

All cicadas are periodical, meaning they emerge from the soil at regular intervals. Most of the cicadas in this area are annual, emerging every year about this time.

In other areas of North Carolina, and the United States, some periodic cicadas emerge from the soil only every 17 years. You most likely have heard them referred to as 17-year locusts, but they are not locusts at all.

Once they emerge from their shells, adult cicadas are easy to identify. They hardly resemble the shells they emerge from. Cicadas have large eyes, are shaped like a bomb, and have large transparent wings.

These insects first emerge from the ground as a nymph and crawl up the side of a tree or some other surface. They then molt into the adult stage, leaving the skin or exoskeleton behind. The adult flies into nearby trees to feed and mate. In order to attract a mate, they emit a loud, buzzing song which is not too annoying when there is only a couple of cicadas around. But when there are thousands of them, each trying to outdo the other to attract a mate, the noise can be so annoying that people sometimes have to seek peace and quite inside.

Along with the cicada will come a very special wasp. This wasp is huge, and its entire diet consists of nothing but cicadas.

These wasps are called, what else, cicada killers. They often grow to almost two inches long. The are mostly black with bright yellow markings. Although the female does have a very fierce-looking stinger, it will rarely sting even if provoked. Males, like the males of other species of bees and wasps, do not have stingers.

Since they rarely sting, and since they feed on an annoying insect, they are actually beneficial and should be left alone. But the problem is that they are digger wasps. The females dig deep holes into the ground in which to lay their eggs instead of building a hanging nest like other wasps. Considering the size of the wasp and the fact that such a deep hole is dug, you can imagine the amount of dirt that must be excavated in order to create nesting holes. These mounds of dirt are usually not acceptable to homeowners.

After the wasps creates her nest in the ground, she then flies off in search of a cicada. When she finds one, she stings it -- not to kill it but to paralyze it. She then carries it back to her nest. Cicadas are large insects, and sometimes they are larger than the wasp that captures it. If this is the case, the wasp usually has a lot of difficulty getting the cicada back to her nest, and it is rather interesting to watch her try. After capturing the cicada, she will leap from the tree and glide and fly as far as she can. If she is not close enough to her nest, she will grasp the stunned cicada in her front legs, climb the nearest tree, and leap out again, gliding and flying toward her nest. She will repeat the process until she gets close to her nest and will then drag the paralyzed cicada the rest of the distance.

The cicada killer wasp uses the cicadas she captures to provision her nest. Once in the nest, the female wasp lays her eggs on the cicada. Soon wasp larvae hatch from the eggs and feed upon the cicada. When mature, the wasp larvae pupate and another generation of wasps emerges to feed in the soil until next year when it carries on the life cycle.

If you feel you must control cicada killer wasps in your yard, the best strategy is to use an old tennis racket or boat paddle. Stand very still, close to the mound, and when the wasp hovers over it, practice your swing. This works almost every time. Since they are solitary wasps, you will probably have the opportunity to practice your swing only once.

If you feel you must use an insecticide, virtually all of the commonly used products, such as malathion, pyrethrins, and orthene, are very effective. Mix a small amount in a watering can or bucket, and when the wasp enters the hole, pour the solution in behind her.

Now, if you see a huge wasp hovering in your yard or a mound of dirt with a huge hole in the middle, you will know what made it. Leave the watering can in the shed and get out your tennis racket.

E-mail address: Everett_Davis@ncsu.edu

Mailing Address:
P. O. Box 2280
Lumberton, NC 28359-2280

Phone: 910-671-3276
Fax: 910-671-6278

Date Created 7/20/05