Two Tibicens Taken from Cicada Killers

Two Tibicens Taken from Cicada Killers

Hey All, here's another update for you. A lot has happened over the last several days since my last update. I decided to break these down as they happened. So, Let the fun begin. The reader submissions have just about doubled so more of those will be put on the Cicada and Cicada Killer Sightings page.

Two Tibicen lyricens Taken from Cicada Killers - August 2nd 2006

Like last year, I have been periodically visiting the Pine Grove Cemetery in Westford, Ma to check on the status of the Cicada Killer colony there. I counted over 40 Cicada Killer burrows. Every few days more and more burrows seem to pop up by newly emerging females. The time should be coming to an end for them unfortunately as there are only a few more weeks left of good weather for cicadas.

I was able to steal paralyzed cicadas away from two females and I even captured two of the wasps to send to my friend in New Zealand who studies cicadas there.

A Simple Technique

I use a rather simple technique to steal cicadas away from cicada killers. First I insert a stick into a burrow entrance and wait for a female cicada killer to come back with a cicada. If it comes back without a cicada and just wants to check on its burrow, I remove the stick. It will do a little maintenance cleaning then fly off again. Then I just put the stick back in the entrance again.

If a female does catch a cicada, when it tries to enter its burrow, I swat the cicada away from from the wasp. This proves how non-aggressive these wasps really are as the female cicada killer just flies off to hunt for another cicada. I then remove the stick from the burrow entrance. Piece of cake.

Below are the images of two paralyzed Tibicen lyricen male cicadas. These guys - while they cannot move - are very much alive. In fact when I took these home, I pinned them and put them on a spreading board with their wings fully spread. I waited a day or two. When I released them from the spreading board, the wings snapped back into place. The venom of the cicada killer female apparently keeps the cicadas alive and fresh for a very long time.