Cicada Killers
Along with cicadas come the cicada killers, our largest wasp. They average 1½ inches in length. The abdomen is black with yellow markings. The wings and legs are reddish.
Cicada killers are solitary wasps that make their nests in the ground. They mound the dirt around the opening to their nests. The female wasp catches and stings a cicada, paralyzing it (far left photo), then she takes it back to her nest. The female lays an egg on the cicada.
When the larva hatches, it feeds on the stunned cicada. She will do this with each cicada she captures. No need to be afraid of the huge wasp. It won’t bother us, just cicadas.
Robber Flies
Robber flies are predatory insects that catch their prey on the wing. Their eyesight is amazing. They have been compared to falcons of the bird world. The one we see in the Skiatook area is here from June through fall. It has a “bearded” (bristled) face and iridescent green eyes.
After catching an insect, the robber fly uses its short, strong proboscis to suck out the prey’s body fluids. Beekeepers call them “bee killers” because of their preference for honeybees.
Photos show one clinging to a perch by one leg while the other five legs hold the honeybee. The second photo is of a life and death struggle with a carpenter bee, which far out-weighed and out-massed the robber fly. The robber fly succeeded in killing the much larger carpenter bee. Absolutely amazing.
Praying Mantis
Praying mantis is a generic term for the 20 kinds of mantids that are found in North America. We have two in the Skiatook area, the Carolina mantis and the Chinese mantis. As the names suggest, the Carolina mantis is a native species. The Chinese mantis was introduced in 1896 to many areas in the U.S. as a biological control for insect pests.
Mantids are predators that can’t be categorized as either beneficial or harmful because they consume both harmful and beneficial insects. They are long, upright insects with forelegs that are adapted for grasping and holding prey, which they consume. At rest, the forelegs are held close to the body, giving them the appearance of praying. They have mobile, triangular heads and threadlike antennae. They can be either brown or green.
Carolina Mantis
The Carolina mantis is 2-2½ inches long and has a dark spot on each outer forewing. Males fly well but females can’t fly because their wings are too short. The Chinese mantis is the largest mantis in North America reaching 5 inches in length. Both sexes fly well.
We usually see mantises in the fall because by then they are large enough for us to notice them. It is also the time when they mate. The female may kill and eat the male while mating, a condition referred to as sexual cannibalism. This also happens with black widow spiders. Female mantises lay eggs in masses of white foamlike material that hardens and turns brown. Adult mantids die in the fall. Eggs overwinter and nymphs hatch in the spring. The newly hatched nymphs look like miniature adults.
Egg cases may be purchased from many suppliers over the Internet. Unfortunately, many egg cases are of the Chinese mantis. If you plan to purchase any, be sure they are Carolina mantis egg cases. The introduced Chinese mantis outcompetes our native Carolina mantis.
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