Cicada killer wasp

Open, sandy or loose-soil areas, including lawns, gardens, roadsides, and forest edges, where females excavate burrows.

Adults consume nectar and may feed on plant juices. Females capture cicadas, paralyze them, and provision underground nests with them for their larvae.

Solitary rather than colony-forming; adults fly in midsummer. Females drag cicadas into branching burrows, lay one egg per prey item, and males may patrol aggressively but cannot sting.

Females can sting if handled, but are generally nonaggressive toward people. They help regulate cicada populations and pollinate flowers; their burrowing can disturb small patches of soil.