Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Ran into these guys in the field and buzzing around the pines and firs. Not sure what they are. Anybody?

1/400 F 7.1 ISO 1800 70-300 @ 300

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The Saint KK4GO Loc: Florida

Mean !

Transbuff1985 Loc: east central Iowa

Nice shot Steve. Seen these around here the last 2 years I'm in Iowa. Believe an Asian wasp. Not nice!

Mark Sturtevant Loc: Grand Blanc, MI

Cicada killers. Big wasps that go after cicadas. They paralyze them and feed them to their larva. The enormous females are intimidating, but I've found they are totally docile toward humans. The most they do is fly away. If you see several of these in one area buzzing and hanging out, then those are males and they are only interested in finding females about to emerge from the ground. Males don't even have a stinger.

It is fun to watch the various species of solitary wasps like these go about their work. Most females hunt for a specific kind of insect prey, or they hunt for spiders. And they are entirely single-minded to this task. We have all our cares and worries about a hundred things, and are easily persuaded by negative emotions. If we can say that solitary wasps have a care, then they only care about reproducing and nothing else. The rest of the world just does not exist to them.

It is understandable to see such things as being aggressive. They buzz when they fly, and we instinctively read that as anger. They may fly toward you, and people instinctively run from that. But they are simply wanting to fly in the direction where you happen to be standing. Stand still (calmly, there is 0 danger), and they with their tiny brain will figure out a way around you. It's a bit of a thrill to do that, and there is 0 danger I promise.

I've photographed the big females working their burrow, lying on the ground with the macro lens literally at the burrow entrance. A female can hover in front of my nose, trying to figure out what this "thing" is that wasn't there before, and I can feel the breeze from her wings. After a time they just move on. Experiencing this creates a feeling of strong connection with something that is utterly strange to us and often not understood. They on the other hand could not care less about us, and that is ok.

Transbuff1985 Loc: east central Iowa

Interesting Mark. Maybe that is why I see alot of dead cicadas on the ground this season. THANKS.

Curmudgeon Loc: SE Arizona

Nice catch. Thanks to Mark for the info. Great teamwork guys

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks!

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Wow. Thanks for your detailed and informative reply. That explains why I see them in the grass. And I did figure out, slowly, that they weren’t threatened by me or threatening to me.

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks!

UTMike Loc: South Jordan, UT

Good shot, Steve!

Uuglypher Loc: South Dakota (East River)

A nicely composed ode to the cicada killer!
Dave

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks Mike!

Steve V Loc: New Jersey

Thanks!

StanMac Loc: Tennessee

👍

Stan

relbugman Loc: MD/FL/CA/SC

That's a very nice shot, Steve!

Just a response to Transb. on the dead cicadas -- these are just the normal mortality in a very high population after a short reproductive period. Something will get them -- ants, cats, skunks, etc. The Cicada Killers don't abandon their hard-earned prey (that they catch alive only and paralyze with a sting to the ventral nerve chord) on the ground unless they are seriously disturbed while carrying the prey or digging their burrow. They will dig a hole and pull in the cicada and lay one egg on it, then close the well hidden burrow and start over looking for another cicada.