Eastern Cicada Killer Wasp

Have you wondered what those big wasp looking things are that nest in the fairways? They create large patches of sand and soil as they burrow into the grass. Well, they may actually be helpful to our trees. They are eastern cicada killer wasps. Officially known as sphecius speciosus. Sounds more like a spell from Harry Potter. If you watch them closely as they return to their hole, most often they will have a large cicada that they have snatched from the trees. If you are not familiar with the cicada simply listen and you will hear them. They make that grinding clicking noise so common to the summer. They are large and en mass they can cause damage to the trees by scarring the tree branches when the females lay their eggs deep in the branch.

The female cicada killer stings the cicada and brings it back for lunch. She may go out for more because she is larger than the male. The dead cicada also supplies nutrients for the eggs laid by the female and male cicada killer. So unless you are from Malaysia or the Congo where cicadas are a prized treat, we can let the eastern cicada killer wasp do its work without fear that we will be stung by one of the largest wasps in the eastern United States. Check out the excerpt below from Wikipedia regarding the threat to humans.

Are Cicada Killers Harmful to Humans?
"Although cicada killers are large, female cicada killer wasps are not aggressive and rarely sting unless they are grasped roughly, stepped upon with bare feet, or caught in clothing, etc. One author who has been stung indicates that, for him, the stings are not much more than a "pinprick". Males aggressively defend their perching areas on nesting sites against rival males but they have no sting. Although they appear to attack anything that moves near their territories, male cicada killers are actually investigating anything that might be a female cicada killer ready to mate. Such close inspection appears to many people to be an attack, but male and female cicada killers do not land on people and attempt to sting. If handled roughly, females will sting, and males will jab with a sharp spine on the tip of their abdomen. Both sexes are well equipped to bite, as they have large jaws; however, they do not appear to grasp human skin and bite. They are generally non-aggressive towards humans and usually fly away when swatted at, instead of attacking"

Cicada Killers on Wikipedia