cicada killers in my garden

cowbell · July 29th, 2012, 07:14 PM

have you seen these? wasp like bug that kill cicada... harmless but a pain...

they dig deep holes in your lawn or GARDEN...

here is my problem:
this year i used weed mat for my plant rows and for the first time i have dozens digging under the mat... can i use sevin or something to kill them or prevent more of these from digging? anything safer then sevin...?

Blanesgarden · July 29th, 2012, 08:35 PM

Not so sure what to use on these, as I have never had this problem.
But Please...
Dont go the sevins route.
Most of us in here, really avoid using that, and we try to encourage people to stay away from it.

w8in4dave · July 29th, 2012, 10:55 PM

OMG we just seen this happen yesterday. My daughter and son in law were setting out on the picnic table and heard a cicada fly in the land on a tree and whap one of those huge wasps landed on it , shut it up! I ran in to get my Camera and they said the wasp carried it out past our big barn! Wow it was something..... That wasp was huge!

w8in4dave · July 29th, 2012, 10:59 PM

http://www.cyberbee.net/column/sting...dakiller.shtml

atlbry · July 29th, 2012, 11:00 PM

lol they sure are. I always thought they looked like a ARMY helicopter carring somthing to battle. I would always run long sticks in the hole after them and leave it there. you could sit there and shoot them with wasp killer but that stuff is bad.

nedwina · July 30th, 2012, 08:39 AM

They'll only be digging & carrying on for a month or so. They will buzz you to make you go away, but it's very unlikely that they'll sting you.

From the few sites I've read, one way to discourage them is to keep the area wet. So maybe you could try running a sprinkler in the area where they're most active.

I have quite a few here and I just wait them out.

Roadrunner · July 30th, 2012, 08:46 AM

I got a pic of one hunting a cicada while hiking the Appalachian Trail. As for digging holes, there are a lot of insects that dig holes; I've never seen that as a threat to my garden, if anything I think it benefits the soil.

BTW, I also have other bee species (I know CK's not a bee) dig holes, don't see a problem.

watermelonpunch · July 30th, 2012, 02:26 PM

Wow, I had no idea about this. When I read this, I thought geez, I've never even seen a cicada! I just hear them, or see the cast offs.

We had green irridescent sweat bees making holes in the lawn. Never in the garden though, and I read that sweat bees will not burrow holes in disturbed ground like a tilled vegetable garden or flower bed, they only like tightly packed ground - like the lawn.

My husband saw some wasps on my tomato plant dismantling a katydid.
I have no idea where the wasps are actually living, I haven't seen their residence nest or any holes or whatnot.

roper2008 · July 30th, 2012, 02:37 PM

I have those too, but not many. I just figured out what they were last year. I
had a pile of weeds that I just threw on the ground and never picked it up. That
is where it decided to make it's burrow. Maybe your weed mat is an attractive
burrowing place.

July 29th, 2012, 07:14 PM	#1
cowbell Junior Member Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: NJ USDA Zone: 6b Posts: 14	cicada killers in my garden have you seen these? wasp like bug that kill cicada... harmless but a pain... they dig deep holes in your lawn or GARDEN... here is my problem: this year i used weed mat for my plant rows and for the first time i have dozens digging under the mat... can i use sevin or something to kill them or prevent more of these from digging? anything safer then sevin...?

July 29th, 2012, 08:35 PM	#2
Blanesgarden PKS South Join Date: Aug 2007 Location: Jackson, MS USDA Zone: 8b Posts: 11,129	Re: cicada killers in my garden Not so sure what to use on these, as I have never had this problem. But Please... Dont go the sevins route. Most of us in here, really avoid using that, and we try to encourage people to stay away from it. __________________ http://tomatodepot.proboards.com/index.cgi?

July 29th, 2012, 10:59 PM	#4
w8in4dave Senior Member Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Michigan USDA Zone: 5b Posts: 15,316	Re: cicada killers in my garden http://www.cyberbee.net/column/sting...dakiller.shtml __________________ Out of all the things I have ever lost, I miss my mind the most

July 29th, 2012, 11:00 PM	#5
atlbry younge vet Join Date: Jun 2012 Location: Newnan GA USDA Zone: 7b Posts: 244	Re: cicada killers in my garden lol they sure are. I always thought they looked like a ARMY helicopter carring somthing to battle. I would always run long sticks in the hole after them and leave it there. you could sit there and shoot them with wasp killer but that stuff is bad.

July 30th, 2012, 08:39 AM	#6
nedwina Venture Universe Mole Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Near the CT airport, where the planes fly low. USDA Zone: 6a Posts: 2,825	Re: cicada killers in my garden They'll only be digging & carrying on for a month or so. They will buzz you to make you go away, but it's very unlikely that they'll sting you. From the few sites I've read, one way to discourage them is to keep the area wet. So maybe you could try running a sprinkler in the area where they're most active. I have quite a few here and I just wait them out.

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cicada killers in my garden