Talk:Sphecius speciosus

Magicicada
Do Cicada Killer Wasps feed on Magicicada; specifically, Brood X that has emerged in many US states in the past month? I ask because the Magicicada article had a mention of CKWs feeding on them, but it was removed when someone noticed that these cicadas typically died off by June, whereas this article states that CKWs don't emerge until July. I took this picture on 30 May 2004 of a yellow-and-black- (not yellow-and-red/brown-) striped wasp picking over a dead Magicicada, but didn't know what kind of wasp it was, or even if it was attempting to consume or lay eggs in the hapless cicada. Could someone familiar with CKWs and/or wasps in general explain: Thank you. -- Jeff Q 16:57, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * 1) What kind of wasp this is?
 * 2) If it is a Cicada Killer Wasp, how it might be up and about in May?
 * 3) If CKWs only come out in July, what kind of cicadas do they kill?


 * Jeff, I'm by no means an expert on cicadas or wasps, but the last question is easy: there are many more species of cicadas than the Magicicada, and many of the North American species have an emergence period that does overlap with that of the CKW. They are even called collectively (and informally) the "dog day cicadas" precisely because they appear in July or August, i.e., during the Dog Days. CKWs certainly feed on those. Lupo 07:13, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * The wasp in the photo is Polistes dominulus, and it is scavenging the carcass of a dead cicada - it almost certainly could NOT kill the cicada itself. Dyanega 19:36, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

Hello, anonymous editor!
I would like to share a personal experience. While digging out a tree stump in my garden I was repeatedly "buzzed" by cicada killer wasps. When I retreated they did not follow but when I decided they would not harm me and continued they attacked. There were only four wasps but they all flew at me, one landed on my fore arm and, I think, bit me, not stung me. The pain and burning in my arm was intense for many hours despite the fact that I took an antihistamine within a few minutes and iced the site. Twenty four hours later it is stiff and mildly sore along the bitten muscle - from wrist to elbow. While not horrible i would not describe the cicada killer wasp bite as an insignificant pin prick!

Hey 206.245.176.26, it's great to see somebody knowledgeable at work! I see you're from Lafayette&mdash;you wouldn't be Prof. Holliday himself, would you? Anyway, you might want to cross-check my attempt to clean up the taxonomy to verify that I didn't introduce new errors... Thanks for your good work! Lupo 12:33, 25 Jun 2004 (UTC)
 * Sorry about the (VERY) late response, but I can almost guarantee that this is NOT Doc Holliday. I am a student of his, and the contributions of 206.245 (blanking pages, comments on emo kids) just don't seem like his kind of thoughts. In addition, the IP for Lafayette College seems to start always in 139.147; 206.245 is a location in Bethlehem (coincidently, Lafayette's rival, Lehigh)139.147.218.186 (talk) 20:23, 23 April 2008 (UTC)

Hi Jeff Q As to your question of what kind of Wasp this is? I'm not sure, but I do know for sure that it is not a Cicada Killer Wasp. I have had to deal with these wasps for about 3 - 4 years now in my yard. The CKW's are much bigger then your wasp. I'm not sure what type of Cicadas they hunt and kill where I live, but the funniest thing to see is one of these wasps carrying a paralyzed Cicada under its belly and trying to fly to its burrow in the ground. They deposit the paralyzed Cicadas into their burrows to feed next years larva, or this years. I have had five or six of these in my yard at a time and it has taken me a few years to kill all of them off. They do also appear in July and I haven't seen them before then. Using a butterfly net to catch them is really easy, and they make a great insect to bring to school for your kids. The main reason that I removed them from my yard is they scared my children. They look very scary, but aren't very harmful. Thanks, Jahmekyat 18:52, 12 September 2006 (UTC)

The Cicada's are not dead they are paralyzed by the sting from the female CKW. The male has no stinger and all he does is fight with other males for mating. I watched about 10 of these wasps flying around in a yard the other day bringing in Cicadas.

May be necessary to give separate pages to other cicada killer species
Given that this page talks almost exclusively about ONE out of 21 known species, it might be advisable to restructure it accordingly - as it is, it looks like it's trying to be a catch-all for multiple genera, which is not in keeping with most taxonomic WP articles (consider the taxobox here, which refers to a single species, and contrast it with the text). Rather than offending previous editors by changing ti now myself, I'll merely point this out as a potential source for future problems, and suggest that the sooner it's addressed, the better. Dyanega 19:35, 5 January 2007 (UTC)
 * Well, the addition of the species list by User:Sarefo was nice, but it was the exact opposite of what I was suggesting; there IS a page for the genus - the problem was that THIS article focused on a single species (and even had Sphecius speciosus linked to it as a redirect), and yet the text emphasized other members of the genus. I have accordingly restructure it so this is now the page for speciosus and ONLY for speciosus, as it was originally intended.

Range
I don't know i can't find one but I'm sure there are some maps of where this insect is commonly found in the United States and Mexico. Could someone please find out what their habitat is? --Co1dLP1anet 17:19, 9 July 2007 (UTC)


 * There are no maps available, because there have never been any such studies. Insects are not like birds or mammals; aside from butterflies, people rarely bother to make maps of their distributions. Besides, it is already specified in the text: "This species occurs in the eastern and midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America." That means essentially ANYWHERE within that region. Dyanega 20:37, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
 * Sorry for a late response, but I believe Dr. Chuck Holiday (from Lafayette College) is studying this. Check his site (linked on the article) for info. 129.25.23.186 (talk) 22:56, 17 March 2010 (UTC)

Cicada Killer seen in backyard in South Western Ontario, Canada. August 2012. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.198.87.49 (talk) 15:25, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Male and female eggs
Perhaps can someone elaborate on the information presented about male and female eggs? If the egg-laying female puts a female egg around three cicadas, and a male egg around one cicada, how does she determine the sex of the eggs she is laying, or does the amount of food present (and the nutrition it provides the developing larva) determine the sex somehow?

This point was not made clear, or am I misunderstanding something here?

I know that in some insects, eg.g. mealybugs, the female can produce eggs parthenogenetically, but I think thay all develop into females.


 * It is unfortunate that the article link required to answer this question cannot effectively be placed on every page related to Hymenoptera, but ALL of them have the same mechanism of sex determination, and it would be incredibly tedious and redundant to try to do put a link in EVERY article individually. Since you asked, this is the pertinent article: Haplodiploid sex-determination system. Dyanega 17:22, 6 August 2007 (UTC)

Cicada Killer seen in my backyard in South Western Ontario, Canada. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.198.87.49 (talk) 15:22, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

This article and the wikipedia Importance Scale
Speaking only for myself, I found it very useful and informative. These particular insects have been exceptionally abundant in my girlfriend's neighborhood recently (early August), and she was concerned as to what was making these holes everywhere, and were the wasps she saw flying around of any danger to the many children in her neighborhood should they disrupt the nests by stomping on them, etc. There was also a concern about pets as well.

The article was very useful in answering her questions. Isn't that the point of an encyclopedia?

Witness testimonies of attack
on my way to my car, i heard some cicada screams, broken ones at that. He took flight from the tree and was spiraling like an aircraft in a deadly spin to the ground. I find he was being stung multiple times by one of these bees, the cicada had no chance.lol Just thought I'd share a ruthless moment in nature with you all! Murakumo-Elite (talk) 08:18, 28 June 2008 (UTC)

Jacksonville, Florida. June 16th, 2011. 10 a.m. A couple co-workers and I were sitting outside when we heard a cicada fall to the ground a few feet away from us. We saw an average sized cicada rolling around struggling with a rather large wasp type insect that had yellow and black markings. The cicada was either bitten or stung by this wasp, and the wasp flew back up into the trees. The cicada struggled a bit more, but slowly died from it's injuries.

Scary bees
The testmaster saw some of these before. They are ginormous. They fly around like crazy and almost fly into you like they are trying to attack. I was so scared that I ran to my car (this was before the testmaster got a DUI). Testmasterflex (talk) 04:10, 19 September 2008 (UTC)

What can be done to get rid of these things?
I've been living in the Hudson Valley in New York for 3 years and these Cicada Killers seem to be multiplying every year in my front yard. This morning I stepped out my front door and found 50 or more of them flying around. They are very intimidating. One of my coworkers was mowing his lawn and was stung 8 times. He said it was very painfull. My cousin and his daughter aslo were stung and they said it was very painfull. I have complained to the management of my complex and they claim that they are harmless. That is hard to believe when I know of 3 people that have been stung. How do I get rid of these things? --173.62.14.253 (talk) 12:48, 15 July 2010 (UTC)


 * Umm, that does NOT sound like cicada killers. That sounds like hornets or yellowjackets. In order to get stung by a cicada killer, you have to grab it, step on it, or sit on it. Tell your friends who were stung to take a photo, post it here, and I'll tell them what it is. I'll bet you that neither your coworker nor your cousin were stung by cicada killers. Are either your cousin or coworker trained in entomology and capable of telling a cicada killer from a European hornet? Ultimately, what THEY were stung by is irrelevant - what YOU have in your yard might still be cicada killers, and if so, there is no danger of you being stung, and no legitimate reason for you to complain to the management or ask how to remove them. It's like asking your neighbor to get rid of his cat because your cousin was attacked by a mountain lion. Dyanega (talk) 16:32, 15 July 2010 (UTC)

How do I get rid of the Eastern Cicada Killer from my yard??
Hello, EXCELLENT article. I definitely have a problem with these wasps. I have tried the Wasp and Hornet spray on them, and while individually it kills the wasps, I cannot spray a large enough area with a can. Also, despite spraying and filling the burrow holes, I have not seemed to make a dent in the population. Do these wasps go back to their same burrows each night? Last night I sprayed at least 50 holes. I also sprayed the entire area with a lawn and garden insect spray and while I may have less bugs out there now, the Cicada Killers are STILL THERE! Do I need to bring in a pro to do the job? Maybe a bee keeper? Or is there something I can do to get rid of them?

Thank you for your help! —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.170.0 (talk) 13:18, 24 July 2010 (UTC)

Problem With the Picture.
This is the exact same picture as that used for Exeirus, the Australian Cicada-Killer. Obviously, one of them is wrong.

68.39.161.88 (talk) 18:31, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
 * Fixed. Dyanega (talk) 23:29, 15 August 2010 (UTC)

Sting
I have heard that their sting is incredibly painful and that they can sting people if they miss the cicada they were trying to paralyze. Paramecium13 (talk) 23:51, 11 May 2011 (UTC)

Go Romney?
One of the references, http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QBO14G0&show_article=1, appears to be a pro-Romney anti-Obama political blog. I'm not sure which side of the US 2012 (oops) election cicada killers are on, but perhaps there is a better place to put this link?


 * I've removed it. It certainly has no place in a biological article. Thanks for catching it.-- O BSIDIAN  †  S OUL  00:46, 13 August 2012 (UTC)

Advice
Many categories are missing and should be added to this article including communication, social behaviors, and mating systems. Communication/signals should be included because even though these species are solitary wasps, they must communicate with each other in some way in order to mate and have offspring. Additionally, there should be a category on mating systems. We are told males aggressively defend their perching areas in order to find a female to mate. If the male has to defend a territory, which is costly, in order to mate, a section about mating systems should be added. Lastly, we need a section on social behaviors. Do individuals recognize their kin, act selfishly, or act altruistically? How do members of these species compete with other for the same resources? Who are their competitors? There are many more questions that can be answered by adding some more information to this article. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elee715 (talk • contribs) 23:21, 11 September 2014 (UTC)


 * Yes, it would be nice to add such sections and information... now, if only there were actual publications that discussed ANY of these things. You might find that these insects, like 99.9% of the Insecta, have never been studied in any such level of detail, and probably never will, so unless you go out yourself to gather this information, and publish it, it's probably never going to appear in Wikipedia. Why? Because you can't add information to Wikipedia that doesn't appear in a reliable source anywhere. It's a shame, but that's why entomologists never run out of things to study, and why most of the insect species pages in Wikipedia will barely ever rise above the level of "stubs". Dyanega (talk) 00:49, 12 September 2014 (UTC)

Wiki Education assignment: General Entomology
— Assignment last updated by Stevensalana (talk) 13:22, 28 November 2022 (UTC)