Cicada Killer with cicada

Description:

Cicada killers reach up to 1-½ inch in length. Except for a rusty red head and thorax, they are overall black or rusty in color, with yellow band markings on the abdominal segments. They have russet colored wings

Habitat:

Wildlife habitat yard.

Notes:

This cicada killer was in the process of stinging a cicada. Cicada killers are 1½-inch predator wasps that look frightening, but males can't sting, and females don't sting humans or other animals unless provoked. A female will sting a cicada, then drag it to its ground nest. She lays an egg on the paralyzed cicada, and when the larva hatches, it eats the cicada.