Life History and Habits of the Cicada Killer in Ohio

Abstract

The Cicada Killing Wasp (Sphecius speciosus Drury 2 ) has long been of interest to entomologists and of much popular interest to naturalists wherever it occurs.Riley (18) in 1893 published in "Insect Life" the first account of its life history and habits.Observations of the writers have revealed a number of inaccuracies in this report and omission of essential data.These errors and omissions have been repeated by subsequent writers on the subject, particularly Marlatt (12), and Smith (20).Certain of these inaccuracies have been corrected, (Davis 5), but as yet no complete account of the life history and habits of this insect has appeared.For this reason the writers are here attempting to bring together the essential facts concerning its life history and habits based on published accounts and their own observations.Beginning with the summer of 1934, and continuing through 1940, we studied the habits of this wasp for a period of a week or more each year during the height of its activity.A large part of the data reported on were collected from a colony of these insects consisting of several hundred burrows on a 4-H Club Camp site in Eden Township, Licking County, Ohio.Many observations have been made, however, at other colonies in southern Ohio counties.In addition to our own observations those of other interested individuals have been reported to us. DESCRIPTION AND DISTRIBUTIONDue to its large size, general distribution and interesting habits Sphecius speciosus has been described in many insect books and needs no further description here.Its habit of digging burrows and provisioning them with cicadas is the means by which it is usually recognized and has earned it the name of cicada killer, sand hornet or golden digger-wasp.In Ohio, Sphecius speciosus is most abundant in the southern two-thirds of the state but records from as far north as Cleveland in Cuyahoga County and Van Wert in Van Wert County have been obtained.Colonies appear to be most numerous in the unglaciated Allegheny Plateau and to occur only locally elsewhere.Although complete records are not available it is quite probable that it occurs in all of the counties, south of the Lake Erie drainage.Twenty-five of the 27 counties for which records are available are in this area. LIFE HISTORY Emergence:At Dayton, Ohio, during a three-year period (1937)(1938)(1939), the average date for the emergence of adults from Sphecius larval cases stored over winter in well-drained soil was July 1.Specimens stored at room temperature emerged approximately one month earlier.The adults made a nearly perpendicular tunnel to the surface in completing their emergence.It is interesting to note that the emergence date of Sphecius closely approximates that of its prey, as was indicated by the concurrent appearance of cicadas at Dayton, Ohio, in 1939 and 1940.As noted later, however, Sphecius does not begin to prey upon cicadas until several weeks after its emergence.