They're Back!

I first blogged about the Cicada Killer Wasps back in 2009 when a half dozen dug burrows in our front lawn. They've returned to do they same each year hence. In ever increasing numbers!

Two years ago we had our in-ground swimming pool removed from the back yard. The contractor filled in the hole and topped it off with so-so quality top soil. Consequently the new grass has taken some time to establish a good thick turf. Meanwhile the wasps have found this area ideal for establishing their nest burrows.  Literally hundreds of little mounds of excavated soil dot the landscape. It is unsightly for sure to say nothing of inhibiting the development of a the luxurious carpet of lawn to which every suburbanite aspires.

Well, they're back again this year doing their thing. They find cicadas up in the trees and paralyze them with a sting. Then gripping their prey under their body fly down to their burrows to stow them away and deposit their eggs in them. Gross eh? Occasionally the wasps will miss the bare landing area by their nest and being unable to take off with their heavy load they have to struggle though the grass to make it home.

Suddenly the bluejays returned to the yard after more than a month's absence. I noticed the jays will sit on the fence or clothes line poles and occasionally make a quick visit to the ground. What are they after? When it spots a wasp trying to drag its booty through the turf the jay will swoop down knock the wasp over and steal the cicada. Quite the opportunist.

“You can observe a lot by just watching.”
     - Yogi Berra
    

Killing Fields

There's a slaughter underway in our front yard. It's a brutal annual event that gets worse every August. No it's not my continuing campaign against invading moles or or my fierce destruction of encroaching crab grass. Instead it's the return of the "cicada killer wasp" (Sphecius speciosus).

These critters like to excavate underground dens in the lawn. These tunnels are not insignificant. The females which are as big as my little finger dig out a one inch diameter hole generating a mound of soil that would put any self respecting mole to shame.

Once the burrow is complete she will hunt down a cicada and paralyze it with a sting. It's quite a sight to see her struggling move an inert body of equal size from who knows how far away over a jungle-like terrain and into the hole. With the zombie cicada safely stowed she lays an egg in it and seals it in a chamber and continues the hunt. The larvae will emerge in a couple of weeks to feed on the zombie cicada and turn into a pupa to emerge the following summer. The females only live for about a month before succumbing to exhaustion.

With the females doing all the heavy lifting apparently the only function males perform is to stake out a territory and attempt to mate with anything that flies by. Hey ladies don't blame us, it's Nature's plan.

Next month I'll fill in the burrows and scatter some grass seed on the bare spots to cover up the evidence. I'd better plan for next year though. Last year there was only a half dozen burrows compared to twenty this year. Next year it could be fifty or more. Time to get proactive here.

...to be continued.