(Sphecius speciosus)
Conservation • Description • Habitat • Biology • Distribution • Taxonomy
Conservation Status |
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IUCN Red List | not listed |
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NatureServe | NNR - Unranked |
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Minnesota | not listed |
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Description |
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Eastern cicada-killer wasp is a common, large, sand wasp. It occurs in the United States from the East Coast through the Great Plains, in southern Ontario Canada, and in northeastern Mexico. It is replaced in the west by the western cicada-killer wasp and Pacific cicada-killer wasp, neither of which occurs in Minnesota. It is found from late June to early September in forests, at forest edges, in city parks, and in gardens. Its large size and fearsome stinger are intimidating, but it rarely stings humans. Adults can be from ⅝″ to 2″ (15 to 50 mm) in length. males are much smaller than females. The body is black with rust-colored and yellow markings. The front part of the body (mesosoma) is connected to the rear part (metasoma) by a narrow waist that is not elongated petiole-like. The head is rust colored. The plate on the face (clypeus) on both sexes is yellow. The antennae are thread-like. On the female they have 12 segments, including a long first segment (scape) at the base, a short second segment (pedicel), and a whip-like section (flagellum) with 10 segments (flagellomeres). On the male the antennae have 13 segments, including 11 flagellomeres. The thorax is black and is covered with short, erect, reddish-yellow hairs. It has three segments, the prothorax, mesothorax, and metathorax. The exoskeletal plate covering the prothorax (pronotum) is short and collar-like. It is yellow on the upper surface, black on the forward-facing surface. On the mesothorax, the large front plate (scutum) is mostly black. There is a narrow yellow stripe above each wing base, a small yellow spot below it, and a rust-colored spot in front of it extending to the front margin. There is also a yellow spot on each side of the thorax below the wing base. The smaller rear plate (scutellum) is rust colored. The upper surface of the metathorax (metanotum) is entirely black, with no yellow markings. The metasoma on the female has six visible segments. On the male it has seven visible segments. The first three segments have a yellow band at the rear. The band is interrupted in the middle on all three segments. There are sometimes smaller markings on the fourth segment. The remaining segments are entirely black. The female has a large stinger at the end of her abdomen. The male has a smaller spine, a “pseudo-stinger”, at the tip of his abdomen. The legs are yellowish and rust colored. On the middle leg the fourth segment (tibia) has two spurs at the tip. On the female, the tibia on the hind leg has two greatly enlarged flat spines at the tip. The wings are large and Smokey brown. The forewing has three submarginal cells. |
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Size |
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Total length: ⅝″ to 2″ (15 to 50 mm) |
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Habitat |
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Biology |
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Season |
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Late June to early September |
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Behavior |
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Despite its large size and fearsome stinger, the female will rarely sting a human unless it is roughly handled. The male has a spine-like projection at the end of its abdomen and can jab a human with it, but the “pseudo-stinger” has no venom. The wings are held out at an angle when at rest. |
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Life Cycle |
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The female creates a nest by digging a burrow in bare soil, often with the help of several other females. Individual egg cells are excavated as needed at the end of the burrow. A burrow may be up to four feet long and contain more than 16 egg cells, but the typical burrow is about 10″ to 20″ (25 to 50 cm) long and may have10 or more cells. After capturing and paralyzing a cicada, the female will drag it to the nest. Often, she will drag the captured prey up a tree trunk or fence post so that she can fly to the nest. This is necessary because the cicada may weigh up to 88% more than the wasp. Each cell is provisioned with one or two paralyzed cicadas, an egg is laid, and the cell is sealed. When the egg hatches, the larva consumes the cicada, spins a cocoon, and hibernates. An adult emerges in early to mid-summer the following year. Like the cicadas they prey on, adult eastern cicada-killer wasps are short lived. Males die shortly after mating. Females die after laying all of their eggs. The adult typically lives no more than two months. |
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Larva Food |
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Cicadas |
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Adult Food |
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Flower nectar |
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Distribution |
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Sources |
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7/22/2023 | ||||
Occurrence |
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Taxonomy |
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Order |
Hymenoptera (ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies) | ||
Suborder |
Apocrita (narrow-waisted wasps, ants, and bees) | ||
Infraorder |
Aculeata (ants, bees, and stinging wasps) | ||
Superfamily |
Apoidea (bees and apoid wasps) | ||
Family |
Crabronidae (square-headed wasps, sand wasps, and allies) | ||
Subfamily |
Bembicinae | ||
Tribe |
Bembicini (sand wasps) | ||
Subtribe | Spheciina | ||
Genus |
Sphecius (cicada-killer wasps) | ||
Subfamily Tribe |
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Synonyms |
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Hogardia speciosa Sphex speciosus Stizus speciosus Stizus vespiformis Vespa tricincta |
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Common Names |
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cicada hawk cicada killer cicada killer wasp eastern cicada-killer eastern cicada-killer wasp |
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Glossary
Clypeus
On insects, a hardened plate on the face above the upper lip (labrum).
Flagellomere
A segment of the whip-like third section of an insect antenna (flagellum).
Mesonotum
The principal exoskeletal plate on the upper (dorsal) part of the middle segment of the thorax of an insect.
Mesosoma
In Hymenoptera: the front part of the body, consisting of all three segments of the thorax and the first segment of the abdomen, to which the wings are attached.
Metasoma
In Hymenoptera: the armored rear part of the body, consisting of the second segment of the abdomen and all segments posterior to it.
Pronotum
The exoskeletal plate on the upper side of the first segment of the thorax of an insect.
Scape
In plants: An erect, leafless stalk growing from the rootstock and supporting a flower or a flower cluster. In insects: The basal segment of the antenna.
Scutellum
The exoskeletal plate covering the rearward (posterior) part of the middle segment of the thorax in some insects. In Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Homoptera, the dorsal, often triangular plate behind the pronotum and between the bases of the front wings. In Diptera, the exoskeletal plate between the abdomen and the thorax.
Tibia
The fourth segment of an insect leg, after the femur and before the tarsus (foot). The fifth segment of a spider leg or palp.
Visitor Photos |
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Shylo Morgan |
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I love finding new bugs. I did not think I’d see anything cool since I moved to a bigger city and not in the country anymore. I’m pretty excited to learn about this because hopefully I will hear cicadas this year. |
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MinnesotaSeasons.com Photos |
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Slideshows |
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Visitor Videos |
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This button not working for you? Simply email us at info@MinnesotaSeasons.com. Attach a video, a YouTube link, or a cloud storage link. |
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Shylo Morgan |
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eastern cicada killer wasp 01 Jul 22, 2023 |
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About
eastern cicada-killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) I love finding new bugs. I did not think I’d see anything cool since I moved to a bigger city and not in the country anymore. I’m pretty excited to learn about this because hopefully I will hear cicadas this year. Video by Shylo Morgan http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/eastern_cicada-killer_wasp.html |
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eastern cicada killer wasp 02 Jul 22, 2023 |
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About
eastern cicada-killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) I love finding new bugs. I did not think I’d see anything cool since I moved to a bigger city and not in the country anymore. I’m pretty excited to learn about this because hopefully I will hear cicadas this year. Video by Shylo Morgan http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/eastern_cicada-killer_wasp.html |
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eastern cicada killer wasp 03 Jul 22, 2023 |
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About
eastern cicada-killer wasp (Sphecius speciosus) I love finding new bugs. I did not think I’d see anything cool since I moved to a bigger city and not in the country anymore. I’m pretty excited to learn about this because hopefully I will hear cicadas this year. Video by Shylo Morgan http://www.minnesotaseasons.com/Insects/eastern_cicada-killer_wasp.html |
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Other Videos |
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The Cicada Killer Wasp (Sphecius speciosus) Homeowner BBQ |
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About
Aug 3, 2020 We had about 5 yards of construction sand delivered a couple of weeks ago to use in our chicken coop. We got through most of it, but still have a pile of about a yard and a half left over. However, now Cicada Killers have infiltrated! This makes it a little scary to keep working at it.. lol. Thanks for watching! |
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Sphecius Speciosus Wiki4All |
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About
May 6, 2020 Sphecius speciosus, often simply referred to as the cicada killer or the cicada hawk, is a large digger wasp species. Cicada killers are large, solitary wasps in the family Crabronidae. The name may be applied to any species of crabronid which preys on cicadas, though in North America it is typically applied to a single species, S. speciosus. However, since there are multiple species of related wasps, it is more appropriate to call it the eastern cicada killer. This species occurs in the eastern and midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them. In North America they are sometimes called sand hornets, although they are not hornets, which belong to the family Vespidae. Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations and thus may directly benefit the deciduous trees upon which their cicada feed. |
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Cicada Killer aka Sphecius speciosus Ronald Schulz |
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About
Aug 7, 2021 This guy seems pretty determined to bring his supper home. |
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Created: 7/22/2023
Last Updated: