Cicada-killing wasps reemerge in the Northeast

AccuWeather

AccuWeather's Ali Reid has the story on a wasp that hunts cicadas.

Transcript

00:00Welcome back to AccuWeather Early. Thanks so much for being with us this Tuesday morning.

00:08All right, this next story, it's quite a story.

00:12It's quite a story. And they may look terrifying, but they're not coming for you. At least that's

00:18what they say. So right now, as annual cicadas are buzzing in backyards and treetops across the

00:23country, so does the return of a wasp with a very specific mission.

00:28Our Allie Reed is live this morning from Burlington County, New Jersey, as she explains why you

00:33shouldn't be afraid of this fearsome looking insect with a terrifying name as well. Good morning, Allie.

00:43Good morning, Ari and Jeff. Well, I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't afraid. Okay, there are

00:48probably hundreds, if not thousands that are in my own neighborhood alone. They are certainly

00:55terrifying to look at. They're very bold and big, and they make an impression, and they certainly

01:02are able to show off when they are in your area, whether that be in your backyard, your front yard,

01:07your neighborhood. They're around, and they are very hard to miss. What's interesting, though,

01:13is that this time of year is exactly when they are coming out. So they are right on cue here when

01:18the cicadas, the normal cicadas, are also coming out. I also was remiss to say the actual name of

01:25what these are. These are the Eastern Cicada Killer Wasps. How about a name like that? That is

01:31terrifying to even hear that type of name, and when I heard that they were hanging around right in my

01:35neighborhood, okay, I said I needed to do a little bit more research on them, and I realized that it's

01:40not just here in New Jersey, but all up and down the East Coast. If we could take this in video to really

01:44show you what one of these things looks like, I think it'll make you turn your head a little bit

01:49here, but the timing, again, no coincidence here when it comes to these wasps. Cicadas are their

01:55only target. That is the good thing. The female cicada killer uses her stinger not to defend herself,

02:01but to actually hunt. She'll go and paralyze a cicada, right, those annual cicadas, midair,

02:07then haul it, sometimes across several feet of ground, back to her underground burrow. The wasp will then

02:13lay a single egg on the cicada, sealing it inside a chamber where her larva will hatch,

02:18feed on the still-living cicada, and eventually emerge the following season. The males, meanwhile,

02:24spend their days guarding territory and looking for mates, but they don't have stingers at all,

02:29so while they may dive bomb or hover near humans, they pose no real threat. Ultimately, they may look

02:36like something you run from, me included, but do not panic. Despite their intimidating size and name,

02:42thankfully, they are not aggressive towards humans. Those males that are battling for territories,

02:49they do not sting, okay? In general, these cicada killer wasps do not bite, they do not sting human

02:59beings. People should not worry about being stung by these cicada killers, okay? They have their minds on

03:06other things, mating for the guys, finding cicadas for the females. They're not interested in you.

03:17Now, a telltale sign that you may have cicadas killers nearby. They very well may dig small holes in

03:24yards or garden beds. These are the nesting sites where they stash the cicada bodies as food for their

03:31larvae. Again, while they can sting, they rarely do unless physically provoked. In fact, males do not

03:39have stingers at all, so while they may look like something out of a horror movie, Jeff, Ari, we can

03:44breathe somewhat of a sigh of relief that they are just simply not interested in us, but it is important

03:49to note that just because they aren't interested in us doesn't mean that they can't sting, and their

03:54stinger and what they have is their poison that's literally inside of their bodies, if they do sting you,

04:00can harm you. So it is important to note that if you do have these in your yard,

04:05in your neighborhood, just avoid them. That's what I do. I run the opposite direction.

04:11I'm sure most of you would do the same. Allie, we appreciate it. That was some very

04:15intense video that you shared with us, too. Zoomed in tight. Yeah, yeah. For anybody enjoying their

04:20breakfast, maybe spit it out this morning. We appreciate Allie live in Burlington County, New Jersey.

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