02 Apr Is it a Yellow Jacket or a Cicada Killer?
Customers call us every year saying that they are seeing huge or giant Yellow Jackets on their lawns. When we hear this we know they are probably seeing Cicada Killers. Even though the female Cicada Killer has a stinger she rarely will sting someone. Though the male has no stinger he will fly around you aggressively or even head butt you when threatened. The Cicada Killers dig chambers in the soil to lay their eggs. It is sometimes amazing to see the amount of soil they can excavate when preparing their chamber. The female Cicada Killer searches for a Cicada to sting and paralyze to take back to her chamber for the purpose of laying an egg on the insect. Once she deposits her egg on the paralyzed Cicada she will leave in search of additional cicadas to sting and paralyze to bring back to the chamber. New cells are dug as necessary off of the main chamber and a single chamber may eventually have 10 or more cells. If the egg she has laid is a male she will have one Cicada for the male and if the egg is a female she will have two or three Cicadas in the chamber for the female when it emerges from the egg since the female is larger and requires additional nutrients. When the larvae emerge from the egg it will use the Cicada for its food source eating from the inside out. When the larva is finished eating, leaving only the outer shell of the Cicada, it will then encase itself in a pupa stage and hibernate until the following Spring. The Cicada Killer will know it is time to emerge from the pupa case when it hears the sounds of the Cicadas in the summertime. Adults do not hibernate.
If you think you have a Yellow Jacket, hornet, bee, or Cicada problem Western Exterminating can help! Give us a call at 817-834-3121 to schedule a certified technician to come inspect.