I'm also in Texas and have had an incredible infestation of cicada killers last
year and year before last. There is no real solution other than mulching deeply
around hard surfaces like bricks, foundations, rock walls, raised beds where you
line rock with, etc.

We had on average last year upwards of 500 of these huge, lumbering creatures.
I did all the reading anyone could have done and the simple answer was to
prevent them reproducing. The way my husband has been successful is with a nice
tennis racket I bought for him at Goodwill, for a dollar.

Last year he wacked an average 50 to 100 PER DAY! This year, we still have them,
but under no conditions are they anywhere in the same range of numbers this
year.

What they do is hunt the cicada, drag it back to the hole they burrowed (usually
always in a bed bordered with a hard substance or bare soil) and put the cicada
down in. They lay the eggs where the larvae hatch and eat the carcass of the
cicada till it ultimately emerges the following year.

This year, his wacking has been lowered to approximately 10-20 per day. It's
definitely MUCH better. Next year it will be less, yet.

They do sting, but the pain only lasts about an hour as a resultant of the
sting. Their sole purpose, as in all other life, is to procreate and prosper!

Oh, I did another thing, I bought a few bags of Cedarcide mulch. It's a very
powdered down version of cedar mulch with added cedar oil. It is non-toxic and
I used two bags to cover all the areas where they like to burrow and it
definitely did help manage where they hunkered down. I don't even mind having
them, but hundreds wizzing by my head as I'm in my hot tub is not very
tolerable.

Victoria


On 5 Jul 2003 07:58:37 -0700, (John) wrote:

I have a couple of wasp-like critters that sit around on the front
steps of my house (Texas). They are approx. an inch long, mostly
black, with three white bands on the abdominal segment. Other than the
white color, they appear to match the description of Cicada Killer
given at http://insects.tamu.edu/images/insec...e/cimg331.html
Can anyone help in identifying these? Also, how would one go about
pursuading them to take up residence elsewhere? Thanks.

John