We get many more identification requests for the Eastern Cicada Killer, and images of Western Cicada Killers are not too common in our archives. Too bad!I caught a video of one grooming: http://www.youtube.com/user/insectpollinator#p/u/5/aCCmdnS7zjg. That would be like you or I running full speed while carrying a sofa. The wasp has perhaps her greatest challenge in shoveling her prize through the entrance to her burrow. Wasp Wednesday: Black & Yellow Mud Dauber, Wanderin' Weeta (With Waterfowl and Weeds), Pink shirt, big mouths, and notes on anemone diets, Fear No Weevil: Entomologists Say Cone Traps Better Protect Palm Trees, Poll for next week’s blog post – Halloween Theme, Insect art: Eye makeup by Duran Jay (entomakeup), Another insanely good photograph by Steve Marshall, showing phorid sex, The great black widow race: how males use the silk road to find females faster, Cheapskate Tuesday 31: Cheapskate Diffuser Mark III.

July 28, 2015 6:02 pm

This positively gorgeous wasp is a Western Cicada Killer, Specius grandis. Western Cicada Killers are one of four type of Cicada Killers. This positively gorgeous wasp is a Western Cicada Killer, Specius grandis.

Though Cicada Killers are not aggressive and we have not gotten any legitimate documentation of a person being stung by a Cicada Killer, the possibility does exist and we imagine a person might be stung if carelessly handling a Cicada Killer. The only truly reliable means of discerning the two species is by the punctation of the first two abdominal segments, as illustrated in the online key to cicada killers by Charles Holliday. Separating this species from the nearly identical Pacific Cicada Killer is not easy, but I have observed a semi-reliable trait to tell the two apart. Separating this species from the nearly identical Pacific Cicada Killer is not easy, but I have observed a semi-reliable trait to tell the two apart. They will also sip sap oozing from wounded trees and shrubs. Once inside she will cart the cicada, paralyzed but alive, into a previously-prepared cell near the bottom of the tunnel. These large wasps are efficient hunters of the loud, plentiful, and nutritious cicadas that buzz through summertime. You can also subscribe without commenting. Though Cicada Killers are not aggressive and we have not gotten any legitimate documentation of a person being stung by a Cicada Killer, the possibility does exist and we imagine a person might be stung if carelessly handling a Cicada Killer. Your email address will not be published. I found this awesome little dude in my laundry room and I’m dying to know what they are. benefits youngster with Autism, Eighth Recipient of the Nasty Reader Award: Pink Inchworm. Their nesting activity lasts at most about a month, and as long as you don’t walk barefoot through the area they occupy, risking stepping on a female wasp, you need not fear. Notify me of followup comments via e-mail. Sphecius grandis ranges throughout much of the western United States, from Kansas and Nebraska south to Texas and west through Nevada to California, Idaho, Oregon, and southeast Washington.

Aphids, Scale Insects, Leafhoppers, and Tree Hoppers, Fungus Beetles and Pleasing Fungus Beetles, Pantry Beetles, Grain Weevils, Spider Beetles, Meal Worms and Carpet Beetles, Crickets, Camel Crickets and Mole Crickets, Sow Bugs, Pill Bugs, Isopods, Lawn Shrimp and Amphipods, Hummingbird Moths, Sphinx Moths or Hawk Moths, Pantry Moths, Clothes Moths, Case-Bearers and Meal Moths, Neuropterans: Lacewings, Antlions, and Owlflies, What's That Bug? However, a visit to Tohono Chul Park back on June 17 did allow me a glimpse of a female Western Cicada Killer, Sphecius grandis. Just standing in the wash and looking up and down it I could see female wasps flying in with their prey. They attack flying cicadas, a noisy battle that can sometimes be heard by the humans below. There are a handful of species in the genus Sphecius within the United States, and a species in the western United States, known as Sphecius convallis, is termed the … I am happy to be a guest speaker, field trip leader, workshop facilitator, and sign copies of the Kaufman guide. My friend has several nesting in her garden in the loose soil in her rock wall.I will be featuring these photos and others of wasps tomorrow on my blog. However, a visit to Tohono Chul Park back on June 17 did allow me a glimpse of a female Western Cicada Killer, Sphecius grandis. Required fields are marked *. Signature: Brooke c. Dear Brooke, Subject: A beautiful type of wasp? Distribution: Cicada Killers (Sphecius speciosus) are present in the eastern United States, east of the Rocky Mountains. Cicada killers do visit flowers to refuel on nectar, but they are not commonly seen on blossoms. You will receive a new password via e-mail. Please enter your username or e-mail address. They aggressively challenge all intruders but, since they have no stingers, it is all bark and no bite. will not do your child's homework, Fanmail: WTB? It is a jaw-dropping sight to see a large wasp, carrying an equally large prey insect, droning along like it has no burden at all. I am hoping that I can find this species in Colorado next summer. The remaining three cicada-killing species in the genus in North America are: This will be the cicada’s death chamber, as it is destined to become food for one of the female wasp’s larval offspring. The Pacific Cicada Killer also tends to have much more of a contrast between the dark reddish brown and pale yellow coloration. Male cicada killers are territorial, and will perch where they can oversee a nesting aggregation of females. Typically, these wasps are mistaken for European wasps, but they look and “sound” more frightening than they are. Plus, cicada killer abundance tends to be very localized. Like the majority of cicada killer species, the Western Cicada Killer likes to nest near other members of its kind. According to my friend Margarethe Brummermann, this has been the year for cicada killer wasps in southern Arizona. All about insects, spiders, and other arthropods, focusing on North America north of Mexico. Please book me now for your own events: Bugeric247ATgmailDOTcom.

does not endorse extermination. As its scientific name implies, this is a large, magnificent animal. This was graphically demonstrated to me last summer when John Rhodes of the Sonoran Arthropod Studies Institute invited me to his neighborhood where a number of S. grandis were nesting in the bank of a dry wash. Ironically, the date was June 17, 2010, exactly one year to the day prior to my next sighting at Tohono Chul. Their wings are amber. The abdomen of the Western Cicada Killer has pale bands along the entirety of its length, whereas the Pacific Cicada Killer has the bands terminating well before the tip of the abdomen. Your email address will not be published.

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