# cicada killer, yummy!



## ismart (Jul 19, 2009)

Rhombodera sp. enjoying a nice large meal!


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## Katnapper (Jul 20, 2009)

Looks like he/she's enjoying it!


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## Rick (Jul 20, 2009)

Hate those things. I find cicadas interesting so I try to kill the killers when I can.


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## ismart (Jul 20, 2009)

Rick said:


> Hate those things. I find cicadas interesting so I try to kill the killers when I can.


I have noticed in the last few years more and more cicada killers than cicadas by me.


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## Rick (Jul 20, 2009)

ismart said:


> I have noticed in the last few years more and more cicada killers than cicadas by me.


I had a few buzzing around my yard last year. I found their burrows and destroyed them. None this year.


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## superfreak (Jul 20, 2009)

those scare me. i used to see them dragging huntsmans and other large spiders into their burrows when i was little.


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## revmdn (Jul 20, 2009)

Scary.


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## ismart (Jul 20, 2009)

superfreak said:


> those scare me. i used to see them dragging huntsmans and other large spiders into their burrows when i was little.


You must have some pretty impressive wasps by you.   We have some spider hawks here, but there small fry compared to what you have probally seen. The cicada killer is the biggest wasp species i have seen by me.


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## jameslongo (Jul 20, 2009)

I'd make sure that thing was very dead before I fed it to one of my mantids. That's one mean bug!


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## ismart (Jul 20, 2009)

jameslongo said:


> I'd make sure that thing was very dead before I fed it to one of my mantids. That's one mean bug!


No worries, rhombodera sp. can handle them pretty easily. I have even feed them to common chinese females without to much difficulty.


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## pohchunyee (Jul 20, 2009)

Cicada or wasp?

It looks like wasp to me unless it is a wasp mimic cicada!


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## ABbuggin (Jul 20, 2009)

pohchunyee said:


> Cicada or wasp?It looks like wasp to me unless it is a wasp mimic cicada!


The cicada killer is a parasitic wasp that parasitises the cicada.  Oh, the wasps are VERY big, over 2 inches. I unfortunatley have been stung by one before and it hurt like (won't even type it here).  I'll cut it short and say, that after the pain finally went away, my thumb turned white, numbed up, and swelled up a bit. And no, I am not allergic to bees/wasps.


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## ismart (Jul 20, 2009)

ABbuggin said:


> The cicada killer is a parasitic wasp that parasitises the cicada.  Oh, the wasps are VERY big, over 2 inches. I unfortunatley have been stung by one before and it hurt like (won't even type it here).  I'll cut it short and say, that after the pain finally went away, my thumb turned white, numbed up, and swelled up a bit. And no, I am not allergic to bees/wasps.


I have always wondered what there sting was like. I have been stung by every type of wasp/bee in my area except for a cicada killer. After your description i'm not in to much of rush now to be stung. :lol:


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## ABbuggin (Jul 20, 2009)

Trust me, you dont! h34r: I've been stung by all sorts also, these are by far the worst.


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## planetq (Jul 21, 2009)

Rick said:


> Hate those things. I find cicadas interesting so I try to kill the killers when I can.


Haha AWESOME. Yeah I hate those things. Luckily I never run into them too much around here.



ismart said:


> I have always wondered what there sting was like. I have been stung by every type of wasp/bee in my area except for a cicada killer. After your description i'm not in to much of rush now to be stung. :lol:





ABbuggin said:


> Trust me, you dont! h34r: I've been stung by all sorts also, these are by far the worst.


Man, I hate painful stings. I wonder how these suckers' stings measure up against a tarantula hawk sting, which are considered to be the no.2 most painful sting in the world according to the Schmidt pain scale : (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index)

and the highest rating of 4.0 shared with the Bullet Ant by the Starr sting pain scale : (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index) &lt;-- I'm sure everyone knows about this.  

It just gives me the creeps when I read Schmidt's vivid descriptions of what the stings feel like. FREAKIN' INTENSE!

When I was little I always assumed that the asian Giant hornet's stings were the most painful, because of how huge and bulky they are.(Plus they have almost no natural predators! That's just messed up!)

But it seems like some of the parasitic wasps have more excruciating stings compared to the hornet species.

Minkyu


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## yen_saw (Jul 21, 2009)

Nice one Ismart! There are probably lot of cicada emerged from ground this year that's why you see more cicada killers. Don't want to be stung or bitten by one of that for sure!


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## ismart (Jul 21, 2009)

calarts_security said:


> Haha AWESOME. Yeah I hate those things. Luckily I never run into them too much around here. Man, I hate painful stings. I wonder how these suckers' stings measure up against a tarantula hawk sting, which are considered to be the no.2 most painful sting in the world according to the Schmidt pain scale : (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index)
> 
> and the highest rating of 4.0 shared with the Bullet Ant by the Starr sting pain scale : (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index) &lt;-- I'm sure everyone knows about this.
> 
> ...


The cicada killers don't bother me much. I do kinda feel bad for the cicada's though. It's bad enough they fall prey to all sorts or predators, and to a wasp that specializes in feeding you alive to it's young.  I so don't want to be a cicada in my next life. :lol: 

Thanks for the link! I remember whatching that on animal planet.

I wonder why parasitic wasp stings would be more painfull? You would probally think it would be less painfull cause all there trying to do is paralize there victims, not kill them. I guess from insect to human the effects are different.



yen_saw said:


> Nice one Ismart! There are probably lot of cicada emerged from ground this year that's why you see more cicada killers. Don't want to be stung or bitten by one of that for sure!


Thanks yen!

The stinger on them looks very menacing!


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## robo mantis (Jul 21, 2009)

The wasps look very mean but trust me they are pretty cool! They will not sting humans or anything else that isn't a cicada! Since they are so big people think they are savages and will kill humans (Not the case here).


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## ismart (Jul 21, 2009)

robo mantis said:


> The wasps look very mean but trust me they are pretty cool! They will not sting humans or anything else that isn't a cicada! Since they are so big people think they are savages and will kill humans (Not the case here).


I love how i always hear people complaining how it chased them and almost stung them, but i have yet to hear anybody actually getting stung. Oh, well except for you ABbuggin. Of course if you go out of your way and grab one these things do tend to happen.  :lol: :lol: Dude, your thumb turned white! :blink: :lol: :lol:


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