| Author |
Message |
    
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 224
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 7:13 pm: |     |
On Sunday I noticed large, anthill-like mounds of dirt on my lawn. Late this afternoon I discovered large wasp-like creatures (cicada killers?) zooming around my driveway and hovering around the aforementioned nests. I didn't get a good look--I was concentrating on making my escape in the car. Is there anyone who, on the basis of this sketchy info, can tell me what has made a home in my yard and how I get rid of them? |
Brett
Citizen
Username: Bmalibashksa
Post Number: 71
Registered: 7-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 7:39 pm: | |
Wasps (two kinds: yellow jackets, hornets). Yellow jackets are ground nesters. Hurt like hell when you get stung. I’ve seen them all over the farm. Unfortunately all I had to do was pour a little gas on them, light it, and run. I don’t think you should do that in either of these two towns. My suggestion… move, or wait for an answer from someone who’s dealt with this in a residential area. |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1658
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 8:52 pm: | |
It sounds like you have some cicada-killer wasps. They are solitary wasps. If you don't bother them, they won't bother you. Unlike yellow jackets, they do not invite themselves to picnics and other outdoor events.
There is not need to get rid of them unless you are of that species that is driven to kill all life forms other than perfect grass. |
vermontgolfer
Citizen
Username: Vermontgolfer
Post Number: 63
Registered: 12-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 19, 2003 - 9:58 pm: | |
Better yet, just wait for the gardener to mow the lawn. Won't he be surprised! |
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 186
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 11:53 am: | |
I just saw one of those giant wasps carrying a cicada up the side of a tree in Brookdale Park in Bloomfield. They are amazing! I wouldn't hurt anything that can kill a cicada. They have got to be good! |
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 187
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 12:10 pm: | |
There is a lot of info on Cicada Killer Wasps on the net. They dig burrows in sandy dirt. The females can sting but only if really bothered. Add mulch to your lawn to reduce the number of burrows in the future if the burrows are a problem. Otherwise, they are fascinating to watch. Would be a good school photography subject. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 225
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 12:29 pm: | |
I know, I know--they are harmless but they are huge and numerous and just generally intimidating! I don't want to kill them, I just want them to move somewhere else, like the reservation, or tjohn's yard. I'll google to see if there is a gentle way to evict them. As always, thanks for the advice |
xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 235
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 12:46 pm: | |
We have one in our backyard, too. Unfortunately, the nest is about 4 feet from our daughter's sandbox that she plays in every day. The giant wasp patrols the area around the nest like a F-16, divebombing at anyone who comes within several feet of the nest. As much as I agree with other animal-lovers out there, I can't jeopardize my 2 year old's (or my) safety.
Elizabeth, if you find useful info, won't you post it please?
|
tourne
Citizen
Username: Tourne
Post Number: 188
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 2:09 pm: | |
Ok, if you definitely have to get rid of the nest now, wait till dark when the female will be in the nest and dig it up. There is only one wasp in the nest with potential offspring eating a cicada. To prevent them from picking the same spot next year, mulch the area. They can't dig in mulch. Take heart that the aggressive male doing the divebombing is impotent in the stinger department. Only the very docile female has a weak stinger and would have to be grabbed to get her to use it. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 226
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, August 23, 2003 - 9:24 am: | |
Update. Now that the cicadas (way creepier than the cicada killers) are appearing in my yard I have decided to let nature take its course. I will have to either get over my bug phobia or check into Les Saisons until we have a cold snap. |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1681
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 24, 2003 - 7:52 pm: | |
What a contrast. The last time I caught a live cicada, I immediately took it indoors to show my children - an impromptu science class. |
joy
Citizen
Username: Joy
Post Number: 109
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 6:53 pm: | |
My daughter is 2 and loves bugs. I found a cicada yesterday and put it in her bug jar. She carried it everywhere - but then we needed a lesson on empathy - since she was twirling the jar around by the handle with the cicada in it...as for the wasp, i was wondering what the mound of dirt was in my neighbor's yard...and this morning, i saw the wasp. Way cool. |
mimosa
Citizen
Username: Mimosa
Post Number: 75
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Monday, August 25, 2003 - 9:43 pm: | |
Are these things black? I've noticed many black wasp-like insects recently, especially near our English Ivy and grape vines. I've seen a couple carrying grasshoppers as they buzzed around, but no cicadas. They aren't really bothering us but I wonder if I should be concerned.
Had a grand time with my boys a couple of summers ago watching a cicada shed it's shell. Awesome!
|
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1691
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 8:36 am: | |
Cicada wasps have reddish-brown wings and an abdomen with white bands. They are much larger than most wasps. The insects in your ivy might be hornets. They are mostly black with bits of white. They construct the classic paper wasp nests in bushes and trees. Unless the nest is in a location likely to be disturbed by people, there is nothing to worry about. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 228
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, August 26, 2003 - 7:19 pm: | |
I've asked the cicadas and the cicada killers in my yard to please private line tjohn for directions to his place. |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 73
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - 1:16 pm: | |
Wait until the 17-year cicadas emerge. I think that a brood is due next year (2004). During the last big event in 1996, there were so many that I had to clean them off of my driveway with a snow shovel - thousands of them. Here is an example:
http://members.fortunecity.com/cicadaman1999/188eb590.jpg
I think that many of you are transplants from other areas and have not really experienced a cicada event. It is an amazing sight.
You will be glad to have those wasps around....
The following is a great reference site about them coutesy of the University of Michigan Museum of Zoology:
http://www.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/magicicada/Periodical/Index.html
...and by the way, "Periodical cicadas achieve astounding population densities, as high as 1.5 million per acre (Dybas 1969)."
This site has a slideshow with a lot of great closeups:
http://homepage.mac.com/dottiesphotos/PhotoAlbum36.html
Sleep well.
|
xavier67
Citizen
Username: Xavier67
Post Number: 241
Registered: 6-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, August 27, 2003 - 2:44 pm: | |
I think I'll just move my daughter's sandbox from near the Wasp's nest (actually, now there are about half a dozen holes). Unfortunately, honey bees have nested on a hole on the 2 by 4 on the other side of the yard, and they have stung me and my sister-in-law once each this summer. Between the bees and the wasps, maybe I should just not let my daughter play in the backyard.
I should really ask my tenants to pay rent. |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 230
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Thursday, August 28, 2003 - 7:30 pm: | |
http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/fauna/Michigan_Cicadas/Index.html
I found this to be a better link to their cicada page.
thanks, Kevin. By the way, were you living here when you had to shovel the cicadas off your driveway . . . .? |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 74
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Friday, August 29, 2003 - 12:02 pm: | |
Elizabeth, I have to admit that I wasn't living in MW/SO at the time but I was in a town that is a 10 minute drive west of the area.
I grew up in the area and have never seen anything that compares to what I saw in 1996.
The only other big bug related event that I recall over the years was the one year in the late 70s or early 80s, where there were an astounding amount of gypsy moth caterpillars and tents. I think that they started spraying from planes to control the population after that.
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deborahg
Citizen
Username: Deborahg
Post Number: 657
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2003 - 8:20 am: | |
Oh, my GOD. How cool, in that Alfred Hitchcock way. Checked that site, however, and the next brood of periodic cicadas isn't due to this area until 2013. Start planning now  |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 231
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2003 - 8:54 am: | |
 I thought the same as you, Deborah, when I first went to that site. But look again! Magicicada X hatches in 2004 |
deborahg
Citizen
Username: Deborahg
Post Number: 658
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Sunday, August 31, 2003 - 8:03 pm: | |
Head for the hills! (Or figure out how to cook 'em). At any rate, no tender new plantings for me next spring. |
kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 75
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 1, 2003 - 6:04 pm: | |
Cicadas are very edible - some say that they are among the tastiest insects in the world. Here are two recipes:
TASTY 17-YEAR CICADAS
Serves 2 amply
1 cup freshly emerged cicadas
2 quarts clean boiling water; salt to taste
1. Gather cicadas from tree trunks and shrubbery, just after they have come out of their nymphal shells; they should still be soft and whitish, like soft-shelled clams.
2. Drop the cicadas into water after it has come to a full boil; water may be salted.
3. After 12 minutes, drain and season to taste.
4. As a variation, try older cicadas, 30 to 60 minutes after they emerge; they are still tasty, but have hardened and darkened. They should have their wings and legs snipped off after boiling.
5. For still another variation, gather nymphs while they are still living underground or just after they emerge.
6. Boil as above.
7. Use boiled nymphs in much the same way you would use cooked shrimp. For example, stir-fry in a wok, combining with favorite spices, vegetables, and sauces.
Nutritional analysis: High in protein, fat, and glycogen, the form in which sugar is stored to provide energy.
-------------------
If you can't find the nymphs, try this recipe.
Cicadas on a Stick with Gravy
Ingredients:
250 cicadas, garlic, salt, rice wine, cornstarch
Slowly pull the wings off 250 cicadas. Drop the little buggers into a pot of boiling salted water and cook for 5 minutes. Drain. Let cool.
Smash a clove of garlic and saute, add rice wine. Thicken garlic and vinegar with cornstarch.
Skewer cicadas and grill over an open flame.
When cicadas have turned a golden brown, cover them with the garlic sauce!
Serves 2
Bon appetit! |
beppolina
Citizen
Username: Beppolina
Post Number: 28
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2003 - 5:54 pm: | |
Oh Kevin, what a great idea! We were at the pub the other night, drinking at the bar while waiting for a table, and wishing that they had nuts or pretzels out. A bowlful of crispy cicadas might be just the thing with a "pint" of Guinness.
Seriously, though, as a former city girl I've been entranced (and spooked) by so many of the bugs I've seen on our screens, in the yard, etc. Is there a really good web site or resource or "field guide" for this area's bugs? (Mind you, I don't want to cook any of them. I just want to know what they are.) |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1760
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Saturday, September 13, 2003 - 6:34 pm: | |
The National Audobon Society Field Guide to North American Insects & Spiders is a good start. It is available in bookstores such as Barnes & Noble. |
OK, it's Tom Reingold
Citizen
Username: Noglider
Post Number: 503
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, September 14, 2003 - 8:35 am: | |
How about recipes for rodents? We've had squirrels and plenty of racoons. A bat flew through our house one night. And in trapping racoons, I once caught a skunk.
How about spiders? Some exquisite spiders spin big webs in my garage doorway and on the trees.
Compared with where I came from -- Manhattan and then Edison, NJ -- this place is terrificly fertile!
Tom Reingold
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kevin
Citizen
Username: Kevin
Post Number: 83
Registered: 2-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 15, 2003 - 10:49 am: | |
Here you go Tom. This is where we rednecks go for recipes for just about anything you can think of:
http://bertc.com/recipes.htm
|
beppolina
Citizen
Username: Beppolina
Post Number: 29
Registered: 3-2002
| | Posted on Monday, September 15, 2003 - 1:43 pm: | |
Be careful with local roadkill. My neighbor's dog killed a squirrel in her backyard and the neighbor, panicked that the squirrel might have some nasty disease, brought its body to her dog's vet. He did her the favor of slicing the squirrel open -- its insides were seething with worms. Morals of the story: Keep your dog on worm medication (like Heartguard); don't let your dog eat dead animals; don't you go scooping up that yummy-looking fresh venison from the side of Wyoming.
(Hey, I didn't start the bug-eating conversation!) |
Elizabeth
Citizen
Username: Elizabeth
Post Number: 244
Registered: 7-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 6:59 am: | |
"What sort of insects do you rejoice in, where you come from?" the Gnat inquired.
"I don't rejoice in insects at all, " Alice explained
 |
tjohn
Citizen
Username: Tjohn
Post Number: 1769
Registered: 12-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 7:06 am: | |
Beppolina,
Worms are always a problem. They must be cooked with extreme delicacy or they become rubbery. Many a fine meal has been spoiled by overcooked worms that made it seem like eating rubber bands. |
mem
Citizen
Username: Mem
Post Number: 1957
Registered: 5-2001
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 10:02 am: | |
Tjohn,
It's easier to avoid cooking the worms because of this exact same problem. After collecting them, just chill them for 24 hours before serving. Dress with lemon and sea salt, use fresh parsley as a garnish, and bon apetite!
There's nothing like being in a BAR! |
ReallyTrying
Citizen
Username: Reallytrying
Post Number: 149
Registered: 1-2003
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 12:50 pm: | |
I am thoroughly grossed out. I should not have rad this just before lunch. |
woodstock
Citizen
Username: Woodstock
Post Number: 336
Registered: 9-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, September 16, 2003 - 3:23 pm: | |
Getting backto Cicadas, I'd suggest not moving to Missouri before 2015. Looks like they're going to get hit by 13 year and 17 year cicadas. Could be quite a harvest, with Fried Cicada Rinds being the most popular snack food in 2016.
Waiting For The Electrician, Or Someone Like Him |
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