Cicada Killer Wasps In Madison?

Eleanor Burke is wondering if anyone else has seen these Cicada killer wasps in Madison. 

Cicada killer pose very little threat to humans, according to this recent article in the Atlantic. Cicadas, on the other hand? They should be worried. After the cicada killer wasps paralyzes a cicada, she drags it back to her burrow to feed her young: "Back at the burrow, she deposits the paralyzed cicada in a brood chamber. Then she lays an egg and carefully tucks it beneath the cicada's foreleg, beside the puncture wound from her sting. (The doomed creature looks, creepily, like a wizened old man with a baguette tucked under his arm.) The female then seals the chamber with dirt, the cicada still living and immobilized within it. A few days later the egg hatches and grub begins to eat the cicada alive, using the puncture wood as an entry point." 

Ewww. 

In the meantime, the male cicada killer wasps are trying to win mates and protect their territory, challenging all comers. Read more in the Atlantic article. 

The Dallas-Hiram Patch also reports that they do not pose a threat to humans: 

Dr. Nancy Hinkle, University of Georgia Cooperative Extension Entomology specialist says, “Although intimidating in appearance, these wasps are not something we humans have to worry about. Cicadas, on the other hand, should be very afraid. Cicada killer wasp adults feed on nectar but use paralyzed cicadas to feed their young.”

Since cicadas can do damage to shrubs and trees in your landscape, these insects are actually beneficial to you. They prey on a damaging insect and do not harm people. There is generally no need to control them, as they do not pose a hazard to people. 

But what about stings, you ask? Females have a stinger, which they use to paralyze the cicadas they provide to their offspring, but the females are so focused on this task that they rarely pose a hazard to humans and are not likely to sting. 

The males may act aggressively in their quest to protect the female and offspring. However, male cicada killer wasps do not have a stinger, so they are not capable of stinging. They will behave in an intimidating way to try to keep potential predators away from the females as they go about their cicada hunting. Those behaviors are all for show. 

Want to learn more about Cicada Killer Wasps? Check out this Landscape Alert from the University of Georgia Cooperative Extension.