She sometimes uses the law of physics by climbing a tree or shrub and partly gliding with the cicada in the direction of her burrow. Without the presence of trees or shrubs, she will walk on the ground. The female Cicada Killer lays one egg in a cell with one, two or three cicadas, then seals the chamber. Cicada Killers adhere to the normal pattern of solitary wasps by mass provisioning their brood cell. The cells are prepared and completed one by one.
Enough food is provided in the cell for the larva to survive until pupation.
Rarely solitary wasps engage in progressive provisioning, which involves caring for several cells at one time and adding food daily to each cell during the growth of the larvae. The eggs of the Cicada Killer hatch in two or three days, producing larvae that feed for about two weeks, which then spin a cocoon of silk mixed with sand or soil. The pupal case is held in the center of the cell by silk strands, and the cocoons remain in the chamber through the winter, with emergence as adults in the following summer. Cicada Killer Wasps are solitary wasps, but can occur in such numbers that they disturb lawns with their burrows. They also will sting if molested.