Cicada Killers

Zippylip

I am fully engaged in a death battle for control of the hut with a swarm of cicada killers that have decided to take up residence along the rear of my house (very close proximity to the hut). I did a little research & learned that they burrow into the ground, kill a cicada, drag it down there, lay an egg on it & the new killer eats the cicada & voila, the next generation climbs out of the hole. The males have no stinger, the females do. These friggin things are intimidating as hell though, a couple inches long, real loud as they fly & hover.

My method of eradication has been to douse them in straight ammonia. It’s best to wait till dusk, when they’re in the hole, then fill the hole with ammonia (pumped in with a pump sprayer). These little bastards crawl out awash in ammonia, walk around in circles for a few seconds, then keel over. I continue to re-fill each hole every day to be sure I’ve killed the babies, & today, after filling one particular hole about 5 straight days, a ½ sized killer came stumbling out. I cannot believe it managed to live through being immersed so many times.

Anyone else have any experience with eradicating these things?

RRP

my neighbor had a serious problem with them a couple years ago. So bad if fact they could not use their front door. They tried fighting them themselves but after several stings including their dog they called in the Orkin team. Those things are huge and really intimidating! Good luck!

walrusegger

Direct or indirect? What kind of sauce?

Seriously, those look nasty...and I've lived in Florida!

Fidel

A tablespoon of kerosene/gasoline or a shot of Raid (or alternate brand) wasp killer should do the trick.

fishlessman

coleman white gas and a match. :laugh: i was about 6 when i got my first lantern and a gallon of white gas, bet 6 year olds dont get that nowadays :laugh: :laugh:
stuffs dabomb

Gator Bait

 
Hi Marc

Sorry to hear that you are troubled by these amazing animals. I have never heard of them and looked up the Wiki article HERE. I can see where they would be very intimidating to have flying around. It is interesting to read how they are typically non aggressive. I have found this to be the case with many of the wasps and hornets down here. I have had a couple species of mud dauber's living in close proximity and have never had a problem with them. We have a mutual understanding not to get in each others way. Some of these mud daubers are about as large as what you have. This summer it has been the smaller brown paper wasps. They have found a way inside my trailer and I have learned to just open the door for them. If the doorway is the brightest source of light they will eventually fly in that direction ad go out on their own. It took all of two minutes the other day. I have been stung by one and it was my fault. I felt something land on me and with out thinking I reached up and brushed it off. LOL, big mistake! It nailed me on the inside of my thumb and hurt like Tort reform. My whole hand hurt for two days. Now I look before I attack.

I'm a tree hugger and like to at least try and live with my environment before waging a war against it but understand your position. To bad they can't be trained to hunt Palmetto Bugs! :laugh:

Blair

 

fishlessman

ive been bitten by alot of different types of bees and some hurt and some dont hurt much, that article leads me to think that those dont hurt much. was bit by a honey bee two weeks back, it still hurts a little, wasnt expecting that from a honey bee :laugh: big barbed type stinger, i was expecting it to be more subtle like a yellow jacket sting. me and the yellow jackets have been at war for several decades now, they started it :laugh: :laugh:

Zippylip

ha ha, we have no Palmetto bugs to hunt, they have more than enough work to do with the 87 billion cicadas that chirp in the trees 24/7; as a kid growing up sans AC, we had our windows wide open all summer long & these things can get so loud it almost seems like they can vibrate the house (the cicadas, not the killers). I too am a bit of a tree hugger, I usually live & let everything else live, ground hogs tearing up holes in the way back yard, squirrels eating my garden, woodpeckers pecking my trees, but I draw the line at bees the size of small birds that scare the crap out of everyone they get near... particularly when its within feet of the hut, a most sacred zone of peace & tranquility that cannot, will not, be disturbed as long as I have an arm that can pour ammonia into their caverns killing their babies muahahahahahaha :laugh: :laugh:

Little Steven

Zip,

I don't think I've ever seen one but we have an all night shrill noise from the woods behind us. Now I realise this opens up the opportunity for a smackdown but I'm asking a serious question. Is it like a high pitch buzzing they put out?

Steve

RRP

Did you mean the cicadas? If so it's rhythmic drone like in waves of volume of:
zzzz ZZZZ zzzz ZZZZ zzzz ZZZZ

RRP

They really are frightening! A swarm of them as compared to your normal wasp is like a huge fleet of B-52s amongst single engine planes! Honestly you can see them flying as individuals from 40 feet away!

Gator Bait

 
Hi Steven

After a long search I finally found a great web page to try and answer your question.
http://www.musicofnature.com/songsofinsects/iframes/cicadas/cicadas.html
Click on the photo of each species and it will open another smaller window with a photo and sound file. Above the photo it will say"– Click here for a pitch-lowered version of this song –", I know I can't hear all the songs with out it but that may be just me.

There are also numerous frogs and toads that call at night. HERE is a page that has two links, one to the American Toad and the other to the Fowler's Toad. If you go out to each page there is a yellow speaker icon that will play good recordings of their call. It has been raining buckets here for the last couple days and after a heavy rain the Fowler's Toads have been calling. I wear a hearing aid and had to turn it way down, the volume of the toads was incredible even painful!

Hope this help you figure out what you are hearing.

Blair

 

Fidel

Yea, but they're no match for a tennis racquet.

Gator Bait

 
Yup, when growing up the Cicadas calling was a good sign of summertime. We never had great numbers of them but they were around. I can understand how scary the Killer Wasps are LOL, I have to control my karma around the wasps and hornets down here and it is not always easy but I very rarely get stung. I would probably get stung more often if I was fighting them. If you have any friends or family that are allergic to them that can be a BIG problem too.

Happy hunting Marc,

Blair

RRP

Rod - tell that to my macho ex-Marine neighbor who tried a similar method! Those big Cicada killing wasp bombers can be wicked when attacked in open day light! These are like "a mega wasp with an attitude that just isn't pleasant!" As for my neighbor I didn't feel sorry for him, but his German Shepherd which got stung several times I did feel for! These things are bad!

Zippylip

Having read all of the information I can find, particularly the over-wintering segments, what I have decided to do is continue the assault through September, then, when the nests become dormant, dig them up, at least a foot deep, couple feet in diameter, & toss the soil in the trash, replacing it with killer egg free soil; basically break the cycle before it can establish a return for next summer. If they come back, they'll have to be new invaders from different yards, kind of like what happened this year (these things have always been around, just not in my back yard). Maybe what I'll do in addition is just keep that strip of soil (it's about 3 feet wide by 25 feet long) nice & wet beginning in July, that oughta deter a new infestation from even picking the spot

tach18k

I'm no expert on these things, I would get something to blow them out of the ground, on the other had, could you take those rat sticky trays and lay it upside down over the hole and put a brick on it, anything coming out would certainly be held in the goo.

Little Steven

Ron,

Yes I did. I found a site that had samples of them and they are the same. Never seen the killers though.

Steve

Little Steven

Blair,

Thanks.

Steve

Zippylip

Terry, I thought about jamming a stick in there, or putting a rock on top, but these things are expert excavators, so my thought is they'll see the blocked exit & just tunnel in a new direction. Then I'll end up with multiple entryways into the same nest... making it harder to fill the chamber with ammonia. On a good note, I have not seen any new nests in a couple days (they were popping up one a day). I think I may have beaten the adult population back or even eradicated it; my only concern is the eggs that are down in the holes, deposited before I slaughtered the adults, thus the plan to shovel out clumps of dirt throwing the babies out with the bathwater, one time I think that to be an acceptable game plan. Gotta tell you, it is a little exciting, just hoping it doesn't turn into my own personal Afghanistan :ermm: :ohmy:

FlaPoolman

Marc, it sounds like the perfect location for the new outhouse :ohmy: :laugh:

Zippylip

Pat, I went bat-sh!t postal on these things, pretty sure I wiped out the herd, haven't seen one in days now, will be moving to phase two of the shock & awe campaign in another month when I dig out the soil. Next year, I will not be caught off guard. I have restored order in the hut

Mainegg

Marc.. it is OK dear just take a deep breath and relax. did you take your meds this week.. do you need a few apt with Dr Phil or someone similar?? it is all OK I am getting worried about you :( chasing little helpless dogs.... braking into the neighbors yard to trap the helpless puppy... and now chasing bugs with buckets of ammonia?
planning on digging up trenches in your yard to get rid of them??
I picture you crawling around your yard with a funnel taped over one ear to sick it in the hole to see if you can hear anything down there... sitting at the kitchen window with night vision goggles to see if they fly out. have you had a vacation lately?? you need to come down to the mini fest

Mainegg

Hey Marc, Neil just said to try the flame thrower on them?? :evil: and then onto a pizza for a crispy topping