Welcome to the EGGhead Forum - a great place to visit and packed with tips and EGGspert advice! You can also join the conversation and get more information and amazing kamado recipes by following Big Green Egg to Experience our World of Flavor™ at:
Facebook  |  Twitter  |  Instagram  |  Pinterest  |  Youtube  |  Vimeo
Share your photos by tagging us and using the hashtag #BigGreenEgg.

Want to see how the EGG is made? Click to Watch

OT: please help identify this insect that keeps flying around me when I'm grilling

chrisc133
chrisc133 Posts: 501
in EggHead Forum
is this some type of fly?  A hornet?  There's about 7 or so of these that keep flying around my deck. One got trapped on my porch this morning so I was finally able to get a picture. Thoughts?


Augusta, GA
#BGETEAMGREEN member
MiniMax, Large, XL BGE
Featured on Man Fire Food Season 7
· Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Comments

  • Sea2Ski
    Sea2Ski Posts: 4,131
    Cicada killer. Member of the order Hymenoptera. (I loved my entomology class!). Rarely will they be aggressive to humans.  They will catch cicadas, and drag them to their nests which are in the ground, and lay a egg in the paralyzed cicada and feed on it.  
    --------------------------------------------------
    Burning lump in Downingtown, PA or diesel in Cape May, NJ.
    ....just look for the smoke!
    Large and MiniMax
    --------------------------------------------------

    Caliking said:   Meat in bung is my favorite. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • nolaegghead
    nolaegghead Posts: 42,109
    Looks like a white, Anglo-Saxon, protestant.  Very dangerous.
    ______________________________________________
    I love lamp..
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Carolina Q
    Carolina Q Posts: 14,831
    About the size of a small car? Looks like a cicada killer. cicada killer

    I hate it when I go to the kitchen for food and all I find are ingredients!                                                                                                                                                                                                                           

    Michael 
    Central Connecticut 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    edited August 2015
    You nailed it! Last year 3 of our neighbors yards looked like miniature busy airports with constant arrivals and departures! Two of the homes had small children who played among them and never a problem. One slow day I went over and watched the whole process of a cicada being tracked, stung and taken back to the pre-dug hole! It was very interesting seeing Mother Nature at work!
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • DaveRichardson
    DaveRichardson Posts: 2,324
    Good target for a tennis racket!!!

    LBGE since 2014

    Griffin, GA 

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • northGAcock
    northGAcock Posts: 15,173
    @chrisc133  drat....bet you were hoping they were yellow jackets! Almost foot ball season.
    Ellijay GA with a Medium & MiniMax

    Well, I married me a wife, she's been trouble all my life,
    Run me out in the cold rain and snow
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • chrisc133
    chrisc133 Posts: 501
    Carolina Q said:
    About the size of a small car? Looks like a cicada killer. cicada killer
    Just googled the cicada killer and you're spot on. Doesn't look like they sting humans but sure makes guests jumpy. Time to dig out my tennis raquets. 

    @northGAcock ...can't wait for football season!
    Augusta, GA
    #BGETEAMGREEN member
    MiniMax, Large, XL BGE
    Featured on Man Fire Food Season 7
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Doc_Eggerton
    Doc_Eggerton Posts: 5,321
    Sea2Ski said:
    Cicada killer. Member of the order Hymenoptera. (I loved my entomology class!). Rarely will they be aggressive to humans.  They will catch cicadas, and drag them to their nests which are in the ground, and lay a egg in the paralyzed cicada and feed on it.  
    Beatme to it.  I have to keep talking me neighbors ot of killing them, they are harmless.


    XXL #82 out of the first 100, XLGE X 2, LBGE (gave this one to daughter 1.0) , MBGE (now in the hands of iloveagoodyoke daughter 2.0) and lots of toys

    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Sea2Ski
    Sea2Ski Posts: 4,131
    Yes, the battle between the killer and cicada can be epic in the true sense of the word.  We have them as well. I do not kill them, but they can be unnerving to see because of their size and looks.  As a lifeguard in a previous part of my life, it was very common to see these buzzing around in late July and August.  In my years of lifeguard to swim coach to club manager over a 10+ year span, I do not recall a report of someone getting stung by one ever, and we never did anything to try and control them. While it was not uncommon to see several at a time, we never had a "swarm" of them at once. 
    --------------------------------------------------
    Burning lump in Downingtown, PA or diesel in Cape May, NJ.
    ....just look for the smoke!
    Large and MiniMax
    --------------------------------------------------

    Caliking said:   Meat in bung is my favorite. 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • RRP
    RRP Posts: 26,455
    Sea2Ski said:
     While it was not uncommon to see several at a time, we never had a "swarm" of them at once. 
    Last year our heavily wooded neighborhood had 17 year cicadas that didn't get the memo from other cycles and were the second summer to buzz up the hood! Guess that is why we had so many killers. I wouldn't call them menacing swarms but I often saw those yards with dozens flying for sure. OTOH this summer I haven't seen a single killer! I'm with you - I have never killed one!
    Re-gasketing the USA one yard at a time 
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • Tim (Watkinsville)
    Tim (Watkinsville) Posts: 106
    I have them in abundance as well. They may not sting humans but I still duck and weave out of the way. As big as they are if they did sting I bet it would hurt like hell.

    Watkinsville, Ga   XL, Medium
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
  • oldmandawg
    oldmandawg Posts: 83
    Yellow Jacket. Kill it. Go Dawgs!
    · Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Categories