Cicada Killers, scientifically known as Sphecius speciosus, are large, solitary digger wasps found across North America east of the Rocky Mountains. They live in the ground only for nesting and the development of their young. Females spend their short adult lives excavating extensive subterranean burrows that serve as a protected nursery. Unlike social wasps, the Cicada Killer’s underground activity focuses entirely on this solitary reproductive cycle. Their annual emergence aligns with the presence of their primary food source, the cicada, ensuring a ready supply for their larval offspring.
Identifying the Cicada Killer Wasp
Cicada Killers are among the largest wasps in North America. Females can measure up to two inches in length, while males are noticeably smaller. Their body features a rusty-red head and thorax, with a black abdomen marked by three prominent, light-yellow bands. This coloration, combined with their size, often leads to them being mistakenly identified as a hornet or large yellowjacket.
The wings are a translucent, reddish-brown color, and they possess thick, reddish-orange legs. A key distinguishing feature is the entrance to their subterranean nest. This is typically a circular hole about a half-inch to one inch in diameter, often surrounded by a prominent, U-shaped mound of excavated soil. The presence of this mound is a clear sign of their nesting activity.
Constructing and Provisioning the Underground Nest
The female wasp is solely responsible for creating the underground structure. She seeks out well-drained, loose, sandy soil, often in areas with sparse vegetation exposed to full sunlight, such as lawns, gardens, or unpaved paths. Using her mandibles to loosen the earth and specialized spines on her hind legs to push the soil out, she excavates a main tunnel that can descend 10 to 20 inches deep and extend up to three feet in length.
Off the main tunnel, the female digs multiple individual chambers, known as cells, which will house her offspring. Once a cell is complete, the provisioning process begins, for which the wasp is named. She hunts a cicada, delivers a paralyzing sting, and then drags or flies the immobilized prey back to the burrow entrance. She then hauls the paralyzed cicada down the tunnel and into the cell, which serves as a fresh food source for the larva.
In each cell, the female lays a single egg on the cicada. After the egg is laid, she seals the cell with dirt, moving on to provision the next chamber until she has exhausted her reproductive capacity, sometimes creating up to 16 cells in a single nest. The egg hatches within a few days, and the larva feeds on the paralyzed, but still-living, cicada for about two weeks before spinning a tough, silken cocoon. The wasp spends the entire winter in this underground cocoon stage before pupating in the spring and emerging as an adult the following summer.
Understanding Their Temperament and Sting Risk
Despite their intimidating appearance, Cicada Killers are solitary wasps and do not have a social colony to defend, unlike aggressive species such as yellowjackets or hornets. This solitary nature makes them non-aggressive toward humans and pets. Their focus is solely on hunting cicadas and provisioning their nests.
The males, often seen flying erratically near burrow sites, are highly territorial toward other males but are completely unable to sting. They may dive-bomb people who enter their territory, but this is merely a bluff. Females possess a functional stinger, necessary for paralyzing their cicada prey. However, a female will only use her stinger defensively if she is severely provoked, such as being accidentally stepped on or crushed.