Try to Solve This Mystery:

Where did our cicada killer wasps dig their burrows?

If you visited the More Finds page, you'll
remember that Ethan found some dead
cicada killer wasps in early August a few
years ago.

The life cycle of the cicada killer isn't much
of a mystery to the people who study them.
We decided that we wanted to see it for
ourselves -- to watch cicada killer wasps
catch cicadas and drag them into their
burrows!

We studied pictures of the burrows, and we
looked for them whenever we passed a likely
looking place. We also watched for living
cicada killer wasps, hoping to follow them to
their burrows.

Ethan solved the mystery on September 7, 2000!
See what he found.

Tell us what you think!
E-mail us at Cicadas@SaltTheSandbox.org

Beth Botts of the Chicago Tribune offers good advice for folks who are
worried about these giant wasps.
< http://featuresblogs.chicagotribune.com/chicago_gardener/2007/05/the_attack_of_t.html >

If you need more advice on how to control cicada killers in your yard,
follow this link.

Here are some Web sites that we used to research this question:

   Prof. Chuck Holliday's Cicada-Killer Page
   < http://ww2.lafayette.edu/~hollidac/cicadakillerhome.html >

The Cicada Killer Thriller Page
< http://www.showmejoe.com/thriller/thriller.htm >

Cicada Killer Wasp (Ohio State University Extension Fact Sheet)
< http://www.ag.ohio-state.edu/~ohioline/hyg-fact/2000/2078A.html >

NEXT: Do these beetles eat cicada nymphs?

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This page was created on August 26, 2000, and it was last updated on May 18, 2007.