One Real Bad Dude

I don't like wasps.  We have a lot of them around here.  They tend to build their nests on outside windows where they'll be dry when it rains.  They also like to build them in the corners of ceilings in the garage and patios.  I mix up some dawn dishwashing liquid and warm water in a cup and throw it on them.  They fall, unable to fly and I step on them and then smash their nests.  I also have a long wooden dowel that I wrap a rag around one end and poke the nest, killing the wasps.  Wasps are no fun.

Walking through the gate this morning from milking, I heard a weird racket.  I looked to see what was going on.  It sounded like the wings of a cicada (we call them locusts).  I looked and looked to see what was going on and then I saw it.  It was a cicada, but it was in distress!

The big locust was being mauled by a smaller, yet fierce, creature.  It was a sight to behold.  I would estimate that the locust weighed three times the amount of the insect that was utterly manhandling it.  I'm talking about the Cicada-killer wasp.  What an ominous name that wasp has, doesn't it.  It's name tells you exactly what he does.  He's ferocious, I'll give him that much.\

The cicada was trying to fight off the intruder, but the cicada-killer wasp was aggressive and nimble.  The cicada's wings are way bigger, but he couldn't fly.  The cicada- killer wasp has smaller wings, but they appear to beat with the speed and intensity of a hummingbird.  The wasp, amazingly, was able to fly with the cicada in tow.

As I read up on the cicada-killer wasp (sphecius speciosus), I learned that they kill cicadas and take them back to provision their nests.  Now there's a nest I wouldn't want to discover by accident.  The article said that they can sting humans, but rarely do and only when they are handled.  I'll promise you this: You don't have to worry about me handling any cicada-killer wasps!