Scientific Name: Sphecius speciosus
The name of this particular wasp sounds a lot more vicious than their personality deserves. Sure, once you get the details of exactly HOW they live their life, it is quite savage sounding. As far as how this insect interacts with humans however, they are quite docile wasps in comparison to their angry hornet cousins. They are rather large, one of the bigger digger wasps, measuring up to 2 inches in length. At first sighting, they are quite terrifying since they are so gigantic. Finding a bunch of cicada killer burrows in your yard is unnerving, especially if you suddenly find yourself face to face with one of these massive wasps.
General Information:
These giant wasps themselves are surprising enough but to see them carrying a huge cicada as they fly to their burrow is quite incredible. The female cicada killer will sting and paralyze a cicada and then fly it to her next. There, she will lay an egg under the cicada’s wing. The cicada killer will then close the burrow where the egg will hatch on the cicada a day or two later. The newly hatched larvae then feasts upon the host until it has its fill, spins a cocoon and hatches into an adult cicada killer.
Signs of an Infestation:
Cicada killers are digger wasps, which means they dig holes in the dirt, creating their homes in places such as your lawn, a flower bed or your garden. Your grass may suffer and you might notice reddish or brown patches in your lawn. As the cicada killer burrows, it kills the roots of the grass where it is nesting. Soon your gorgeous lawn looks sick and blotchy. While these wasps can be beneficial in some instances, you need professional wasp control to get your beautiful lawn back.
Treatment:
The grocery store might carry multiple treatments that claim to get rid of wasps, however, a professional pest control technician knows that not all treatments are blanketed to remove all types of wasps. Specific species needs a specialized approach and our technicians are skilled at treating your home for that exact pest. There is no guess work when it comes to Pointe Pest Control, we know exactly what we are doing and how to remove pests quickly. No more hesitating, contact us ASAP to remove cicada killers from your yard.
Learn More About Stinging Pests:
Paper Wasps, Yellow Jackets, Hornets, Mud Daubers, Carpenter Bees