The picture above shows a female cicada-killer entering her burrow with a paralyzed cicada. Many people are afraid of wasps in general and really large wasps like cicada-killers can be very threatening when breeding, digging and nesting on their property. Although it is extremely unlikely that a cicada-killer will land on you and sting, they do fly close to people and pets when they venture near their breeding areas and this can be frightening. Thus, many people want to rid their property of cicada-killers.

I have had many e-mails from people who say that they are at their wit's end because they have paid exterminators lots of money to rid them of cicada-killers and, yet, the wasps keep returning year after year. This occurs because of the way the wasp breeds: They do not have large nests like yellowjackets and hornets, but dig burrows over a wide area, lay their eggs in them and then move on. Thus, there is no single nest for each female and her offspring to defend and there is no single source of new females which will dig next year's burrows. Unfortunately, this also means that exterminating all of the wasps on a given property cannot keep them from "seeding in" from other properties in the neighborhood the following year.

Each year female cicada-killers hatch in July and August, mate and then search for suitable places to dig their burrows. So, if you spray for wasps this year, you will kill only those which visit your property after it has been sprayed. Next summer, females will hatch in your general area and, because your property is attractive to them (southern-facing, well-drained and with large trees nearby), they will dig burrows and reinfest your yard. In addition, if you spray after burrows have been dug on your property, the eggs which have already been laid will not be killed and will hatch next year. When this happens, the males stay where they hatch (your yard) and fight each other and fly around looking for females; this is a behavior which bothers many people because the males appear aggressive when they fly close to them. Unfortunately, many exterminators do not tell their customers that this will happen year after year and, thus, will require regular reapplication of pesticides.

If you are determined to use pesticides you should read the excellent circular published by the Agricultural and Forestry Experiment Station of West Virginia University; email them and ask for circular #161. It presents the results of experiments to determine the best way to eliminate cicada-killers from a golf course which had nearly 1000 burrows. They found that spraying the insecticides Triumph (isazophos), Tempo (cyfluthrin), Karate (cyhalothrin), Dursban (chlorpyrifos) and Baygon (propoxur) into the burrows at the rate of 1-2 ounces of mixed liquid per burrow eliminated all burrowing activity by the wasps three days after application. Spraying the same insecticides over an area to control cicada-killers was less effective. The author notes that the golf course must be sprayed every year to control cicada-killers because it is ideal habitat and attracts the wasps every year. Bugspray.com has a page on cicada-killer control and sells pesticides and spraying equipment to apply them.

I believe that you are in more danger from pesticides applied to your lawn to kill cicada-killers than from the wasps. People often feel that the wasps deny them the use of their yards, but they should also be aware that many pesticides also temporarily deny them the use of the area which is sprayed, particualrly so for children and pets. This, of course, is the same area that the wasps deny them the use of.

Here is what I say to those who ask me how to deal with cicada-killers on their properties:

I have two suggestions. First, you can swat and kill the wasps very easily with a badminton racquet (not a sword, which Swift's Gulliver is using on the right to dispatch the Brobdingnabian wasps that tried to steal his breakfast sweetcake) and, if you like, call it aerobic exercise. Most of the wasps you see in July are males and they can't sting because they use what would be the stinger for sex. Just ten males flying around waiting for the females to hatch can look like 50; wade into them with the racquet and they'll disappear quickly. The same is true for female wasps. I have caught, tagged and released over 1000 cicada-killers, and never has one tried to land on me and sting. My second suggestion involves water - lots of it. The wasps use your property because it is well-drained and not likely to flood their burrows. Use a hose to convince them otherwise. Try keeping the areas where they dig nests much wetter than usual - fill the burrows with water, plug them with a short length of stick, wash away the piles of dirt surrounding them and keep the area wet. My guess is that you'll break the cycle. Good luck!

Method 1:

We've recently had a cicada killer explosion in my native northern Alabama. It started last summer with a good-sized infestation next to my utility shed. I'd never seen these gigantic wasps in my entire life, so I assumed it was a fluke from the mild winter we had the previous year and paid it no mind. However, they came back in force this summer, digging more nests than ever before. No one in this area knows how to deal with them, so when I went to call around for an exterminator, I was out of luck. No one wanted to touch them, despite the males having false stingers. However, when I talked to my father about it, he had a solution that had been passed down from his great-grandmother. It's all-natural, involves no pesticides, and has worked for me every single time. At dusk, after the cicada killers go to sleep, boil a big pot of water -- get it really boiling, now -- go outside, and pour it into the nest. Later on, when you cut the grass, mulch over the bare patches of soil and the holes with the clippings so they won't come back. Using this tactic, I have wiped out entire infestations in less than 24 hours, and they haven't returned. Meg

Method 2:

Hello Joe: I was surfing the web for help in getting rid of cicada killers and I came across your web site.I have had about 10-20 wasps in my back yard (where my pool was). In the last 2 weeks, I have been desparately trying ways to get rid of them (short of playing tennis with them). Raid was too expensive. I thought of "Hot Shot" Spray starting fluid (inexpensive but explosive ... didn't want to mess with that). Then a friend suggested this and I tried it and it seems to be working - at least they are leaving my yard. In an old dish wash soap bottle (squeeze type) I've been mixing salad dressing (1/2 of the bottle of oil, the remaining half vinegar) equal amounts of each to fill the old soap container. I used the cheapest oil and vinegar I could find in the supermarket.

I mixed and shook, waited for a wasp to enter a hole, then squirted the mixture into the hole after it. I also looked for all of the other holes and randomly just filled them with the mix. Apparently, the vinegar helps the mix to run down into the hole, and the oil coats it, so as to frustrate the wasp. It works and I'm not questioning it. The wasps are leaving and soon I can sit on my deck again. Thanks. Steve in New Jersey.