Question
My cicada killers show up in my yard in Corpus Christi by the 1st of June and stay till Sept. 15th.  I HATE them!  I want to get rid of them!  Can you help me....pls?

Thanks,
Sherri

Answer
Sherri,

As you know, cicada killers are large wasps that make a nest in the ground. They capture cicadas and other insects to feed their young. The wasps cause no damage but can be a nuisance threat because of their ability to sting.

Most of the time these wasps can be ignored because they don't pose as much threat as the social wasps like yellowjackets. However, if populations are high and threatening here's two ways to get rid of them: first, since these wasps favor bare ground anything you can do to promote healthy grass (fertilize, proper watering, lime, etc.) will discourage them from nesting in your lawn. Second, lawns and burrows can be treated with insecticide.

One commonly used turf insecticide is Merit (imidacloprid). Take a look at this page http://www.livingwithbugs.com/merit_insecticide.html for information about Merit. You could also treat individual burrows with a 'wasp & hornet" type of insecticide. My first choice would be the new botanical insecticides because of their safety margin. Take a look at this page http://www.livingwithbugs.com/botanical_insecticide.html for information about these sprays. A good choice would be EcoEXEMPT Jet (see the link).

Good luck.

Jack DeAngelis
author Living with Bugs: http://www.livingwithbugs.com/bug_book.html