A tarantula hawk , Pepsis sp. Photo by Drees. Except for a rusty red head and thorax, they are overall black or rusty in color, with yellow band markings on the abdominal segments. They have russet colored wings. They sting the tarantulas and drag them into burrows in the ground.
Adults emerge in the summer, feed, mate and produce new nesting burrows.
The female provisions each cell in the burrow with one or more paralyzed cicadas on which an egg is deposited, and then seals it. One generation occurs per year. Cicada killers nest in sandy areas, digging burrows about 6 inches deep before turning and extending another 6 or more inches. Tunnels may be branched and end in one or more globular cells. Females are solitary, each provisioning their own nests even though they appear to be nesting in a common area.