Giant Burrowing Wasp
Someone was wondering what species a giant wasp-like insect was that they had seen around their house in Texas. The insect was about an inch and a quarter long, the diameter of the abdomen was almost as wide as their little finger and colored in a yellow and black stripe pattern. Also, the creature appeared to be digging a burrow.
Cicada Killer Wasp Pictures on Flickr.com
This insect is most probably a Cicada Killer. The female has a sting which she uses to paralize cicadas which she then carries back to her burrow where the cicada becomes the first meal for her offspring when they hatch from their eggs. Cicada killers are beneficial insects, as they feed on the annual cicadas which have an appetite for vegetation, however their shere size makes them more than a little frighening. If you would like to eliminate wasps from your yard amazon has numerous wasp solutions available here. I have found that simply keeping the area of ground damp where the wasps are burrowing forces them to take up residence elsewhere. Since they're beneficial insects I prefer not to kill them.
Do you have Cicada Killer Wasps in your garden?
Good luck with the wasps, if you have any comments please let me know and if you have any other questions which you'd like me to answer for free please send them to Ben Dash at ben.dash@gmail.com
posted by Ben Dash @ 7/08/2005 09:55:00 AM
2 Comments:
i dont believe it's a cicada killer the ones in my yard because the stung my dog secondly there's about 20 wasp hills on the left side of the yeard and the only swarm in one area...
It is the wet soft parts of my yard that the wasps are digging into. Because of drought the rest of the lawn is rock hard. So the wasps are digging in my flower beds that I water every other day. They can dig dozens a day. I spray their holes with wasp spray and water and fill them in and the next day the holes are back. I do worry if I am also hurting the toads in the yard.
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