Talk:Sphecius speciosus

message: Do Cicada Killer Wasps feed on Magicicada; specifically, Brood X that has emerged in many US states in the past month? I ask because the Magicicada article had a mention of CKWs feeding on them, but it was removed when someone noticed that these cicadas typically died off by June, whereas this article states that CKWs don't emerge until July.  I took this picture on 30 May 2004 of a yellow-and-black- (not yellow-and-red/brown-) striped wasp picking over a dead Magicicada, but didn't know what kind of wasp it was, or even if it was attempting to consume or lay eggs in the hapless cicada. Could someone familiar with CKWs and/or wasps in general explain:
# What kind of wasp this is?
# If it is a Cicada Killer Wasp, how it might be up and about in May?
# If CKWs only come out in July, what kind of cicadas do they kill?
Thank you. -- Jeff Q 16:57, 8 Jun 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: Jeff, I'm by no means an expert on cicadas or wasps, but the last question is easy: there are many more species of cicadas than the Magicicada, and many of the North American species have an emergence period that does overlap with that of the CKW. They are even called collectively (and informally) the "dog day cicadas" precisely because they appear in July or August, i.e., during the Dog Days. CKWs certainly feed on those. Lupo 07:13, 10 Jun 2004 (UTC)
replies: text: The wasp in the photo is Polistes dominulus, and it is scavenging the carcass of a dead cicada - it almost certainly could NOT kill the cicada itself. Dyanega 19:36, 5 January 2007 (UTC)

text: Sorry about the (VERY) late response, but I can almost guarantee that this is NOT Doc Holliday. I am a student of his, and the contributions of 206.245 (blanking pages, comments on emo kids) just don't seem like his kind of thoughts. In addition, the IP for Lafayette College seems to start always in 139.147; 206.245 is a location in Bethlehem (coincidently, Lafayette's rival, Lehigh)139.147.218.186 (talk) 20:23, 23 April 2008 (UTC)
thread_title: Magicicada

message: I don't know i can't find one but I'm sure there are some maps of where this insect is commonly found in the United States and Mexico. Could someone please find out what their habitat is?
--Co1dLP1anet 17:19, 9 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: There are no maps available, because there have never been any such studies. Insects are not like birds or mammals; aside from butterflies, people rarely bother to make maps of their distributions. Besides, it is already specified in the text: "This species occurs in the eastern and midwest U.S. and southwards into Mexico and Central America." That means essentially ANYWHERE within that region. Dyanega 20:37, 10 July 2007 (UTC)
replies: text: Sorry for a late response, but I believe Dr. Chuck Holiday (from Lafayette College) is studying this. Check his site (linked on the article) for info. 129.25.23.186 (talk) 22:56, 17 March 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Range 

message: Perhaps can someone elaborate on the information presented about male and female eggs? If the egg-laying female puts a female egg around three cicadas, and a male egg around one cicada, how does she determine the sex of the eggs she is laying, or does the amount of food present (and the nutrition it provides the developing larva) determine the sex somehow? 
This point was not made clear, or am I misunderstanding something here?
I know that in some insects, eg.g. mealybugs, the female can produce eggs parthenogenetically, but I think thay all develop into females.
:It is unfortunate that the article link required to answer this question cannot effectively be placed on every page related to Hymenoptera, but ALL of them have the same mechanism of sex determination, and it would be incredibly tedious and redundant to try to do put a link in EVERY article individually. Since you asked, this is the pertinent article: Haplodiploid sex-determination system. Dyanega 17:22, 6 August 2007 (UTC)
thread_title:  Male and female eggs 

message: on my way to my car, i heard some cicada screams, broken ones at that.  He took flight from the tree and was spiraling like an aircraft in a deadly spin to the ground.  I find he was being stung multiple times by one of these bees, the cicada had no chance.lol  Just thought I'd share a ruthless moment in nature with you all! Murakumo-Elite (talk) 08:18, 28 June 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Witness testimonies of attack 

message: The testmaster saw some of these before.  They are ginormous.  They fly around like crazy and almost fly into you like they are trying to attack.  I was so scared that I ran to my car (this was before the testmaster got a DUI). Testmasterflex (talk) 04:10, 19 September 2008 (UTC)
thread_title:  Scary bees 

message: I've been living in the Hudson Valley in New York for 3 years and these Cicada Killers seem to be multiplying every year in my front yard.  This morning I stepped out my front door and found 50 or more of them flying around.  They are very intimidating.  One of my coworkers was mowing his lawn and was stung 8 times.  He said it was very painfull.  My cousin and his daughter aslo were stung and they said it was very painfull.  I have complained to the management of my complex and they claim that they are harmless.  That is hard to believe when I know of 3 people that have been stung.
How do I get rid of these things?  --173.62.14.253 (talk) 12:48, 15 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title: What can be done to get rid of these things?

message: Hello,
EXCELLENT article.  I definitely have a problem with these wasps.  I have tried the Wasp and Hornet spray on them, and while individually it kills the wasps, I cannot spray a large enough area with a can.  Also, despite spraying and filling the burrow holes, I have not seemed to make a dent in the population.  Do these wasps go back to their same burrows each night?  Last night I sprayed at least 50 holes.  I also sprayed the entire area with a lawn and garden insect spray and while I may have less bugs out there now, the Cicada Killers are STILL THERE!  Do I need to bring in a pro to do the job?  Maybe a bee keeper?  Or is there something I can do to get rid of them?
Thank you for your help!  —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.224.170.0 (talk) 13:18, 24 July 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  How do I get rid of the Eastern Cicada Killer from my yard?? 

message: This is the exact same picture as that used for Exeirus, the Australian Cicada-Killer.  Obviously, one of them is wrong.
68.39.161.88 (talk) 18:31, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
replies: text: Fixed. Dyanega (talk) 23:29, 15 August 2010 (UTC)
thread_title:  Problem With the Picture. 

message: I have heard that their sting is incredibly painful and that they can sting people if they miss the cicada they were trying to paralyze.
Paramecium13 (talk) 23:51, 11 May 2011 (UTC)
thread_title:  Sting 

message: One of the references, http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8QBO14G0&show_article=1 , appears to be a pro-Romney anti-Obama political blog.  I'm not sure which side of the US 2012 (oops) election cicada killers are on, but perhaps there is a better place to put this link?
:I've removed it. It certainly has no place in a biological article. Thanks for catching it.-- OBSIDIAN†SOUL 00:46, 13 August 2012 (UTC)
thread_title:  Go Romney? 

message: Many categories are missing and should be added to this article including communication, social behaviors, and mating systems. Communication/signals should be included because even though these species are solitary wasps, they must communicate with each other in some way in order to mate and have offspring. Additionally, there should be a category on mating systems. We are told males aggressively defend their perching areas in order to find a female to mate. If the male has to defend a territory, which is costly, in order to mate, a section about mating systems should be added. Lastly, we need a section on social behaviors. Do individuals recognize their kin, act selfishly, or act altruistically? How do members of these species compete with other for the same resources? Who are their competitors? There are many more questions that can be answered by adding some more information to this article.  — Preceding unsigned comment added by Elee715 (talk • contribs) 23:21, 11 September 2014 (UTC)
replies: text: Yes, it would be nice to add such sections and information... now, if only there were actual publications that discussed ANY of these things. You might find that these insects, like 99.9% of the Insecta, have never been studied in any such level of detail, and probably never will, so unless you go out yourself to gather this information, and publish it, it's probably never going to appear in Wikipedia. Why? Because you can't add information to Wikipedia that doesn't appear in a reliable source anywhere. It's a shame, but that's why entomologists never run out of things to study, and why most of the insect species pages in Wikipedia will barely ever rise above the level of "stubs". Dyanega (talk) 00:49, 12 September 2014 (UTC)
thread_title:  Advice 

message: — Assignment last updated by Stevensalana (talk) 13:22, 28 November 2022 (UTC)
thread_title: Wiki Education assignment: General Entomology