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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 8:41 pm 
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Location: Coppell, Texas
We have very large black and yellow wasp/hornet like bugs digging large holes in our garden. :shock: What are these and how do I get rid of them?

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 06, 2003 9:31 pm 
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Some wasp make their nests in the ground, but I do not know of any that are real big. Regardless, all wasps, bees, hornets, etc. are beneficial. They pollinate and they take care of malefic bugs. If they do not bother you, and you do not bother them, you can live in harmony. :) If you know you are allergic to them in a life threatening way, hire someone to come take care of it for you. I do not know if he will come for wasp, but he might have a suggestion for you. Check with David Lister via http://beebuster.com/.
I have photographed a very large bee -looking critter in my backyard, but I did not see him anywhere but the plant he seemed to fancy.

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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 1:31 pm 
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Location: parker county, texas
It may be a cicada killer. They look like huge black and yellow wasps and they tend to buzz close to the ground looking for cicadas. I've seen several of them here in the past couple of weeks. I've never heard of them hurting a person. They just hunt for cicadas as far as I know. They do look kind of menacing until you realize what they are.


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PostPosted: Mon Jul 07, 2003 3:13 pm 
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Their size does indeed produce a thought of possibility on the harm side of things. :shock: Beasty Bees is a name I just came up with. Only due to their size. The one I photographed let me get fairly close without feeling the need to warn me about my position. :)

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 11:27 am 
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They are cicadia killer wasps!!! I found a good picture and description at the Universtiy of Kentucky website: www.uky.edu/Ag/Entomology/enthp.htm

I have about 15 burrows in my yard and they pile up a several inch high mound of dirt. They buzz around a lot and don't seem to like it when I'm near a burrow, though the website says that they rarely sting even when disturbed. They sure do look mean though! :shock:

Thanks.

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 1:14 pm 
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My Jack Russel puppy just found one not 20 minutes ago. They're huge! :shock: She and I had just stepped outside and she immediately saw it, ran over and started chasing it. I called her off and it went back to fetch the ciceda it had killed/immobilized that was about 18 inches away laying beneath one of our oaks. A few minutes later I saw a bird (no idea what kind) chasing one of them around too. Bad day to be a ciceda in my back yard I suppose.

The only thing I've seen in my yard which might be ciceda killer burrows are the half dozen or so holes which measure about 1 cm in diameter. There's not any sort of mound surrounding them so I'm not sure. The holes started showing up about 10 - 14 days ago, but this was the first time I'd seen one of these wasps. I'll have to keep an eye on them to see if I can spy what comes and goes. My dog will run down anything that moves, makes a noise, smells, or just looks at her funny. I'd hate to see what sort of welt one of those things can raise. :cry:

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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 3:34 pm 
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The first time I saw one, it scared me to death, but my husband told me what they were and that they were just hunting for food (fortunately not humans, lol).


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PostPosted: Wed Jul 09, 2003 9:28 pm 
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Thanks for the info! I will have to pass it along to my friend whose home I was at last night. She saw one and ran inside. She is terrified of bees and wasp. She killed some last week. :( I am trying to get the idea across that this is a live and let live world, and that to try and control nature (like using pesticides, etc.) in my opinion, is somewhat like trying to play God.

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