By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
No, those are not the infamous "murder hornets" flying around Barton County. While the historic outbreak of two broods of cicadas occurred earlier this year in the eastern United States, dry conditions in Kansas may be contributing to a higher number of large cicada killer wasps. Alicia Boor, agriculture and natural resources agent in the Cottonwood District for K-State Research and Extension, said while intimidating, the cicada killers are mostly harmless.
"They're just a huge wasp but they are not dangerous to humans at all," she said. "If you leave them alone, they'll leave you alone. They might try to dive bomb you a little bit. That's because they're trying to protect their territory, especially the males."
The flying insects are approximately two inches long with black and yellow-banded markings on the abdomen. The transparent wings are red-brown. Males establish an aerial territory and may hover around humans to determine if they are a threat but the males cannot sting. Females burrow 6-10 inches into the ground, typically in sandy or loose soil.
"With the drought, we do have maybe not quite as thick of lawns and maybe some dieback just because we haven't had the rain to be able to produce the vegetation we would like," Boor said. "That could be where you're seeing more of them."
While the wasps are generally harmless to humans, the same cannot be said for dog day cicadas. The female wasps find cicadas, sting and paralyze them, then drag them back to the burrow.
"They lay one single egg on top of the cicada, then bury it," said Boor. "When that egg hatches, it eats that cicada. That's its food source to be able to pupate. It pupates and stays underground until the next spring, then they come out the next June."
Females typically will not sting humans but may if they are stepped on with bare feet or grabbed with bare hands. Certain insecticides may be used to help control cicada killer populations but there are also natural ways to keep the insects away.
"If you're seeing them and don't want them around, try to discourage them by mulching or making sure the ground is covered," Boor said. "Otherwise, if you don't have that many of them, really watch them and admire how cool they are that that big of a wasp will drag that big of an insect into a burrow for the young's food source. I think that's really cool."