They may carry the name of a bug you’d write a horror movie about -- but they aren’t as scary as they sound.
As annual cicadas emerge in Michigan every summer, another animal emerges from the depths of your worst nightmares -- the cicada killer wasp.
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But you don’t need to worry. No, seriously. It’s going to be okay. Put down the shoe.
These suckers measure over an inch in length and are cicada catching machines, hence the name. Only female wasps have stingers, which they use to inject venom into their prey and carry it back to their burrow.
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They are the largest wasp found in Michigan, and prefer to dig their burrows in sandy, bare, well-drained soil exposed to full sunlight, according to the MSU Extension. They can sometimes be confused with Japanese hornets or African bees.
They’re mostly solitary creatures, though, when they’re not subduing adult cicadas. (That singing does get annoying sometimes, we get it).
Like other solitary wasps with no large colony to defend, cicada killers usually ignore people as they go about their business of digging holes and hunting for cicadas, according to MSU.
Cicada killer wasp larvae overwinter in the soils and adults usually emerge from mid-June to early July, so you’re probably seeing them around. Females feed, mate and dig burrows for several weeks before hunting for cicadas in nearby trees.
While male wasps may be territorial or act aggressively, they lack a stinger and pose no danger to people; females sting only in self-defense. Just like the cicadas, cicada killer wasps die as summer wanes.
“You may see these wasps while you’re outside this year and immediately think of the stories of giant murder hornets invading North America,” said Michigan DNR game biologist Karen Cleveland. “Don’t worry. This secretive native insect has been here all along, and can be found silencing cicadas across the entire eastern U.S.”
Cleveland said that if you’re a good neighbor and respect the wasps’ space, they’ll be with us for a long time to come.