Killer Invasion

After recently returning home from Pinebrook, we were walking around our yard when Dianne noticed what appeared to be numerous mounds of dirt or sand. As she kicked one with her foot, suddenly a huge bug flew out and began circling us. It appeared to be almost two inches long and it looked like some sort of wasp. When it finally landed on the grass, I quickly stepped on it and eventually killed it. We examined it and then Dianne went to her computer where an internet search showed that it was a cicada killer. We had never heard of such a thing before. We have been surrounded this year by cicadas and the noise has been almost deafening at times. We have since found out that the killers are actually wasps and don't usually attack or sting humans. But the females do use their sting to paralyze cicadas. The female wasp then straddles the paralyzed cicada and takes off toward her burrow carrying the cicada. As you could guess, this return flight to the burrow is difficult for the wasp because the cicada is often more than twice her weight. Our son Craig actually saw this happen recently. After putting the cicada in a nest cell, the female deposits an egg on the cicada and closes the cell with dirt. A burrow is 6 to 10 inches deep and about 1.5 inches wide. The burrows are made by the female who dislodges the soil with her jaws and pushes loose soil behind her as she backs out of the burrow using her hind legs. Her legs are equipped with special spines that help her push the dirt behind her. The excess soil pushed out of the burrow forms a mound with a trench through it at the burrow entrance. New nest cells are dug as necessary off the main burrow tunnel and a single burrow may eventually have 10 to 20 cells. So we are learning more about this incredible wasp. Unfortunately, as I've walked around our yard I've noticed more and more mounds and holes and I've seen more of the killers flying around. I don't mind if they want to kill the noisy cicadas, but I am concerned about what effect these burrows and grubs will have on our lawn. There apparently isn't too much that you can do about them so I guess we'll just need to see what happens. While we were at Pinebrook we shared our experience with other guests and while most had never heard of them, there were a few who have been invaded as well. And all of those have also had large cicada populations around them this year. It is awesome when you think of God's incredible creation and how he takes care of the balance in nature. Now I am wondering if I might have been a victim of one of these killers several weeks ago. After sitting outside at a softball game where my son saw the killer in action I discovered a bloody spot on my back. Later a large welt developed and I finally went to the doctor when it wasn't healing. He gave me something to put on it and said that it appeared to be some sort of bug bite. I still have a scar or mark about an inch long from the bite on my back. If it was a killer, fortunately it wasn't big enough to carry me away. Otherwise I might be buried in one of its burrows. So I guess there is at least one advantage to being heavy.