Every year at my work place we have a big swarm of cicada killers flying around. They are a little intimidating at first because they are big & look like they could just get mad enough to sting you to death. But according to Wikipedia (and they are always right as we all know!) they won't sting people. This is the 5th summer we've had them outside the door and flying into our windows & so far no one has been attacked. It is hilarious when delivery guys come to the door. They get as close to the door as they can & look over their shoulder at the cicada killers with fear in their eyes. I'll answer the door & they come running in usually demanding to know what in the world kind of hornet we've got flying around. It's probably not very nice that I get a jolly out of their fear, but I just can't help it!
4 comments:
Oh my. I would probably have to take a leave of absense. Those things look scary!
You really shouldn't call them cicada "killers" because they're totally harmless! They're just excited adults that have lived their lives underground and now they get to fly around and mate. Know wonder they're so rambunctious and energetic! :)
I think cicadas are pretty cool - have you seen one molt yet? Is that picture really of a cicada or a hornet? It doesn't look cicada-ish.
Sorry to bombard you, I used to teach jr. high science and we did an entire unit on bugs. They're fascinating to me (most of them anyways).
Alicia -
These dudes are actually called cicada killers because that's what they do. They go out & catch cicadas & then bring them back to their underground dens to eat them. Sounds yummy, huh?
I've never seen a cicada in the act of molting but I have found lots of their shells after the fact.
I think we need some of those here at our house. The cicadas are so loud that we have trouble sleeping at night. But I would definately be running in the opposite direction if I met one of these things.
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