After dealing with these critters for three years I believe I have a system that works.We have lived on this property for over forty years and three years ago my lawn was destroyed by these things ! Last year I aggressively went after these wasps, because they say they will return to the area where they were born. As soon as I see a nest with the dirt pile in one direction and the nest hole is 180* from the dirt. At dusk I go to the nest and spray common brake cleaner into the nest hole. All auto parts stores sell brake cleaner. You should hear a buzzing noise and then spray 15 seconds worth of brake cleaner into the nest. That kills the wasp ! push the dirt over the nest hole and step on the dirt mound. This season I only found two nests and I destroyed them.I
I saw those cicadas for the first time at my backyard and vegetable garden 🪴. I would like to know if the treatment might affect my cultivation and fig tree. Thanks Alexander
They are harmless to humans. They are part of the natural cycle. They're fascinating. Why expose yourself, other insects, and your surrounding to pesticides, brake oil, and all the other shit listed here?
Would a cicada cover up its burrow? I clearly saw a small hole in my yard earlier in the day, with the wasp coming in and out of it. I researched what to do about it tonight, opting for boiling water and dish detergent. However, when I came back out a few hours later, the hole was nowhere to be found. What happened to it?? A pest control guy just came out a few days ago to treat/kill a small yellowjacket nest in my front yard. These are definitely much larger and mostly orangish-brown.
My parents had a problem with these nesting in the cracks of their driveway for a couple years. My dad tried all different types of insecticide to no avail. I came up with the idea to fill the cracks with diatomaceous earth (the non-toxic "pool sand") They were gone immediately. Insects hate the stuff... people say its like sharp glass to the insects... or that it dries them out... but whatever the real reason is... it completely worked.
Did they come back at some point? I tried this insecticide dust that doesn't seem to be working and I spent $40 on it. The company representative I bought it from last year told me that they will come back even though I was purchasing their product
It’s best to just leave them alone if you have any trees that you care to keep. I had them for years around my pool deck and we learned to cohabitate. They’re not interested in hurting humans. When my kids were born they became more of a nuisance. Kids and new guests were terrified of them, so after a lot of nagging from my wife, I eliminated them over the course of 3 summers. I tried different things to get rid of them but nothing worked. A tennis racket ended up being the undoing of them. I’d go out every day and smack as many as I could and the population slowly dwindled. After 3 summers of doing that the following summer they were gone. It’s funny, I never once got stung from endlessly swatting at those thugs. Try saying that about bees. After 5 years a lot of the trees in the area began dying. I wiped out part of the natural eco system of the area. Those Cicada killers were here long before I came around, so I should have left them alone
They came last summer. I thought i killed them all as they disappeared after i applied store brand insecticide. Little to my suprise this summer its hundreds of them zooming around in the back yard. They are very intimidating but I haven't been stung. I am going to try the bottle method and the dish soap and water method to see if I can rid myself of these things.
Leave cicada killers alone. Theyre gentle giants..The male has no stinger and the female won't interact with people. We have a male who's been patrolling our porch. He's a nice little guy.
Huh. These things were my saviors through middle and high school. The neighborhood had a lot of people who would leave insane yellowjacket and wasp nests to the degree of being harassed by at least 4 little ones between the car and my front door. Then these living nightmares showed up and shrugged off entire cans of raid, actively divebombing my family. Finally realized that the issue with smaller wasps basically disappeared and figured out what the hell these were and what they were doing. The males would sometimes bump into me but honestly? They saved my life and sanity keeping everything else away between wasps, religious/political solicitors, strays and humans peeing on everything, and neighborhood children who think yanking an entire row of flowers out of a garden to hit eachother with is funny. We only had a small garden for flowers and bushes, though. I totally understand people who get wholesale invaded by these landmine builders and need to get them the heck out.
@the op kingdom It was 17 years ago when I would go outside to water and these guys were divebombing me. And I looked them up and discovered that they thrive on dry environments but I could not water enough they were divebombing me it was scary. But also kind of humorous in retrospect.
@@donaldmccall1489 they don't like to be wet so I'd flood their tunnels with my water hose, But beware they will build more tunnels, they come out in the morning and go in at dusk.
At the local playground where I grew up, there were like 20 of these things each summer flying around and going in and out of the ground. We just played around them jumping and running by the boroughs and never thought anything of it. Looking back, those sons of buck's would have tore us up if they wanted to, but they respected personal space and seemed pretty docile unlike paper wasps and yellow jackets.
I don't know why anyone would want to get rid of these. I see them as being beneficial insects as they control the cicada population (which can be destructive to trees if there are too many). They seem to like an area right outside our front door and we have a good 15 or 20 at their nesting peak. For the most part, I just ignore them and they might buzz me a little, but otherwise ignore me as well. I sometimes just like to watch them fly around and have their little territorial skirmishes with each other. I've even had them crawl up on my bare foot on occasion (knowing that only the females have stingers is also a bit of a comfort). Even so, when someone visits, I warn them about the cicada killers so they aren't a surprise, but tell them to ignore them and they'll leave them alone as well.
I got about 30 of these last year and was using some mixture of water and pesticide nearly impossible to get rid of them. We were flooding their burrows, destroying them and they keep coming back.
I get them every year , they like it under my deck, there fun to watch when they are trying to squeeze the cicada between the deck boards, actually feel bad for them and help push the cicada thru the deck for them lol
I've had a problem with these things for several years. Last summer, my back yard looked like a minefield. I typically ignore them, and they don't bother me. But I came home from vacation yesterday, and this morning I went outside to drink my coffee... these things were flying EVERYWHERE! I couldnt even go down the back steps to my yard. There were literally dozens of these things flying around, and they were rapidly chasing the others around/away. No more "live, and let live"... these things have to go! Thanks for the video and advice.
It is likely you were seeing the male cicada killers, which are aggressive toward each other, but not generally to people (plus, the males cannot sting).
I don't want to kill them, but make it so they move somehow other than around my front door. My son and other visitors are terrified, a delivered package was found halfway up the driveway instead of on the porch. and when I get home from work they are very active flying around my car... almost like they're greeting me, welcome home. I'm okay with them now that I know what they are, but I just wish it wasn't by my front door.
Huh, well they're tied to their burrows so if you put something over the burrow and keep everything wet they won't be able to do anything and will just leave.
Why did you piss it off then? You wouldn't have gotten stung if you didn't piss it off. Cicada Killers are really docile and won't sting unless you piss them off
Wouldn’t part of this solution be to get rid of cicadas too? They too leave huge holes in the ground are the most annoying! Can a video be made of how to disturb their lifecycle to rid this pest?
There's a 45% slope on the edge of the lawn with 3 of these nests in the sloped area, and I identified the wasp by it's markings. If we ignore them, will they multiply next year and dig up the rest of the lawn? And what happens if you mow over them?
For those who want Cicadas to kill their trees, here is how to kill the insect that kills them. So your trees can die with little cicada holes in them because it's super cool now. I mean we water grass and cut it all the time. Makes complete sense.
Thanks for your video, very well said, I have had these guys digging up my drive way for the last 5 years, I have gotten how to take care of the nests and kill when they arrive, but they keep coming back every year and are actually causing my drive way to crack and sink, your advice on prevention is for landscaping and lawns, any thoughts on the driveway?
I live in Massachusetts they have destroyed my patio holes drilled threw the polymeric grout foud 10 gallons stone dust piled under my stairs from them digging
I've been living in my current house for 29 years now but only have dealt with these things fir the past 3 years. Why have they suddenly showed up these past 3 years?? Nothing has changed at all in my area.
Biden opened the border in 2020 so you will experience a flood of these especially with Kamala taking over to make sure Fentynal & child trafficking continue. Hope this helps
I put moth balls in their burrows and re-cover....definitely took down the problem...If they didn't fly around our heads while on the patio, I would leave them alone as I don't chase away the bees and mud dobbers but they leave with a hand swipe. CKs are bolder and make nuisances of themselves.
I am petrified! I'm afraid of bugs, but these are on a "whole nother level"! They appeared last year around the end of July and FINALLY died off in Sept. I sprayed the nests with wasp spray and put down Grub X hoping to kill the lavae so nothing would hatch this year. It didn't work. Here in GA, they don't view these things as a real threat, saying they don't sting, they won't harm you, they live for 3 wks only, and they go to their nest at dusk....These suckers are evolving! All of that is out the window! This year I have a huge swarm of them that have come out of the ground. Its estimated that I have MORE THAN 50 swarming my property daily!!! They come out to play, chase each other, mate...etc. The cicada killer wasps check the cicadas, but who or what is checking the cicada killer wasps???😳 I AM DESPERATE! I'm now paying 2 pest control companies to try to tag team these suckers! It seems like the nests are in the juniper bed. After Sept, I'm going to have it all pulled out and plant grass. Hopefully I can have it dug deep enough to remove all larvae from the tunnels. This is a NIGHTMARE!
Around five years ago we had a nest of very aggressive yellow jackets inside the frame of a, not in use, exterior door of our house. We tried more than six cans of wasp spray but they were too many and it didn'twork. Then we tried different methods from the internet and we found out that the best is to spray a diluted solution of Dawn dishwashing detergent. Now instead of using expensive harmful chemicals, we just prepare a spray bottle with diluted Dawn.
does the pesticide kill vegetation and grass? I have about 8 or 9 wasp nests on my front lawn, Ive been spraying the holes with regular wasp killer spray, but not sure its doing much, they seem to be spreading each week.
You have to catch them as early as you can before they dig their nest too deep and start laying eggs in dead cicadas. I used wasp killer spray too. Not always sure it works. WD40 on a live wasp is pretty effective. I've also followed the advice of another viewer who sits in his yard with a tennis racquet and swats them down. I've found this immensely satisfying sometimes, but I prefer a badminton racquet, one in each hand. So far this year I've only found 2 holes, but it's been a wet summer so they don't like it much for burrowing.
When i see ugly cicadas killers I just get a net and Catch Them and throw them in to the window screen and close it. If they have a cicada I will save is and then kill the cicada killer
I suppose if they completely destroyed a garden I would kill em all, but these bugs are fantastic! Cicadas are incredibly loud and annoying and these harmless monsters get rid of them.
These things are loud too! My backyard is filled with them and I can hear them when I’m inside from them banging against the window. Almost sounds like you’re throwing a tennis ball lightly against the window.
We have hundreds in our front yard. Its only 60’x200’. I kill 50 to 100 per day with a tennis racket but it does no good. My yard has thick grass and its always been between 3.5” to 4” tall. The op’s theory on thick grass is not true. Clemson University told me you will never see more than 4 or 5 in any one area. Boy are they wrong. I have lived here over 20 years and have yet to be able to rid this place of them. You should see the delivery men run like little girls when they notice they are surrounded by these little monsters 😂 !!!
Ordinarily I'd agree. They are very non aggressive, but if left unchecked, they will destroy your yard. I've been waging war on them for the last several years and have barely dented their numbers. At the peak of the season I have holes literally all over my back yard, and they are starting to colonize the front.
@@brandymarries3987 how come we used to hear hundreds of cicadas every year in summer (before insects started dying off) no cicada killers to be seen and the trees were fine? Birds used to eat a few and kids would catch them but still many survived.
I wish I could, but they've made their burrows around my front door. My son is terrified when we get out the car and yesterday the amazon delivery person left a package halfway down the driveway. I can only assume it was these things that deterred him from coming to the porch. They're huge and are definitely intimidating if you don't know what they are. We have two or three flying around.
