See this particular kind of wasp in your yard? No need to fear

AccuWeather

When annual cicadas start singing, that's the cue for their natural predator to show up too. But while cicada killer wasps look terrifying, you're not on their list of targets.

Transcript

00:00The eastern cicada killer wasp is back and if you're hanging around outside they're most likely

00:05one of the largest wasps you'll see all year round. When you begin to hear the annual cicada

00:12singing which is usually going to be in mid-June, hey that's when you're going to start to see the

00:19male cicada killer wasp. Now their life is short, their one mission is to find a female and mate,

00:25then they're going to be gone. However the female cicada killers will be active for several months

00:31so anywhere from late June, July, August, maybe even in September. It's the females that are using

00:38their stingers to hunt cicadas. They'll paralyze one mid-air then haul it back to their underground

00:43burrow. The males spend their days guarding territory and looking for mates and they don't have stingers

00:49at all. So while they may dive bomb or hover near humans they pose no real threat. In general

00:55these cicada killer wasps do not bite, they do not sting human beings. And if you think you might

01:03have some nearby, small holes in the ground and piles of soil will be your telltale signs. If you

01:09don't want them nesting in your yard, experts say it's open dry lawns that are prime real estate for

01:15burrows. Perhaps a wetter soil or denser cover of vegetation or grass would perhaps limit the ability

01:24or the desire of those cicada killers to nest in that site. Again, while these scary insects can sting,

01:32they rarely do unless physically provoked. So unless you're a cicada, don't stress.

01:37For AccuWeather, I'm Allie Reed.

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