1<\/p>\n
Pam’s Perspective<\/p>\n
From the\u2026<\/p>\n
Pam Otto is the Manager of Natural Programs and<\/p>\n
Interpretive Services for the St. Charles Park District<\/p>\n
August 10, 2012<\/p>\n
I don’t know if there’s any other group of animals that provides as much excitement, milligram for<\/p>\n
milligram, as the Class Insecta.<\/p>\n
Think about it. Even though they’re small\u2014the biggest one in the world weighs 7100 milligrams, about<\/p>\n
the same as a Grade A large egg\u2014these guys can be found, in one form or another, on every continent,<\/p>\n
including Antarctica. According to some estimates, if you were to put all the insects in the world in one<\/p>\n
giant bug jar (making sure, of course, to punch holes in the lid) you’d end up with about 10 quintillion\u2014<\/p>\n
that’s 10,000,000,000,000,000,000\u2014individual critters. And that’s not even counting all the non-Insecta<\/p>\n
beasties like spiders, centipedes and roly polies.<\/p>\n
So it should come as no surprise that the animal that’s been causing quite a buzz, literally, the last<\/p>\n
couple of weeks is an insect. A big insect. A killer insect.<\/p>\n
The eastern cicada killer, to be exact.<\/p>\n
Also known as Sphecius speciosus, this giant<\/p>\n
wasp is turning out to be the No. 1 insect<\/p>\n
people are curious about in the summer of<\/p>\n
2012, outranking even Japanese beetles in<\/p>\n
number of calls we’ve received.<\/p>\n
Favoring areas with exposed sand or soil (patios<\/p>\n
and ballfields) that is easy to dig in (gardens and<\/p>\n
golf course sand traps) with an abundance of<\/p>\n
cicadas (pretty much everywhere, this time of<\/p>\n
year), the cicada killer is quite at home in and<\/p>\n
around the TriCities. No big deal, right?<\/p>\n
Well, did I happen to mention that cicada killers<\/p>\n
2<\/p>\n
measure about 2 in. in length? Or that the swollen abdomens of the females can be nearly as big around<\/p>\n
as a pinky finger? Or that a group of males, hell-bent on defending territories, conduct buzzing, aerial<\/p>\n
dogfights that sound like a squadron of small fighter planes?<\/p>\n
Those qualities, coupled with the fact that cicada killers are indeed wasps, and so in theory can sting,<\/p>\n
have sent more than a few folks scrambling for their insect field guides these past few weeks.<\/p>\n
The good news, for humans, is that cicada killers barely even register on the scale of potential threats.<\/p>\n
They look scary, for sure, but unless you’re really harassing them, they are quite happy to go about their<\/p>\n
business and leave you to go about yours.<\/p>\n
It’s cicadas they’re after. True to their name, these wasps kill cicadas. But not directly.<\/p>\n
The sting of the cicada killer females (males are not so gifted) delivers a venom with paralytic and<\/p>\n
preservative properties that causes cicadas\u2014the only things the stings are really meant for\u2014to become<\/p>\n
immobile. Once her large quarry is rendered powerless, momma cicada killer flies and\/or drags her prize<\/p>\n
back to her home burrow. Down under the ground they<\/p>\n
go, to the series of chambers mom has already dug in<\/p>\n
anticipation of a successful hunt.<\/p>\n
After placing a cicada in a chamber, the ever-industrious<\/p>\n
wasp then lays an egg on the still living but no longer<\/p>\n
moving insect, which soon becomes food for the<\/p>\n
developing larva. Eggs destined to become male wasps<\/p>\n
get one cicada; eggs that are to be females get two or<\/p>\n
three to provide for their eventual bigger body mass.<\/p>\n
Male or female, the little ones feast on their all-they-can-eat buffet, consuming the cicada(s) within<\/p>\n
about two weeks. Larger, but not yet resembling their extraordinary parents, the larvae then enter a<\/p>\n
state of diapause in which they spend the winter. Next spring they will pupate, and emerge as fullfledged<\/p>\n
wasps in summer.<\/p>\n
Males will appear first and duke it out to establish territories; females will follow a couple weeks later.<\/p>\n
Right now we are about mid-way through the cicada killer season. Reports of males buzzing have started<\/p>\n
to slow down, while calls about mysterious thumb-sized burrows are just beginning.<\/p>\n
Even though the danger to people is minimal, finding yourself in the same general area as a cicada killer<\/p>\n
may be a bit unnerving. Just remember, those giant black and yellow cylinders buzzing about aren’t the<\/p>\n
least bit interested in you. Because milligram for milligram, you’re just not that exciting\u2026to a cicada<\/p>\n
killer.<\/p>\n
Pam Otto is the manager of nature programs and interpretive services for the St. Charles Park District.<\/p>\n