Attack of the Cicada Killers! Not!

My family thinks I'm nuts, but I was very happy to have a gigantic bee fly at me when I walked across the deck a couple of weeks ago. I know, now that you've read that you think I'm crazy too, but there's just something about cicada killers.

They're scary looking at more than an inch long, but they rarely use their stingers, more content just to give you a warning fly-by, much like those Maverick enjoyed in Top Gun. Luckily I wasn't drinking coffee. Unafraid of challenge, I have seen them wrestling with cicada's as long, but twice as wide as they are. Plus, and I know this is only my 2nd summer with them, they have already come to mean late summer; the time of year when it's too hot to use the porch anyway so it's okay to share it with some oversized bees. They nest under our porch and their eyes are frequently bigger than their stomachs, or at least the cracks between our decks. Every day we find multiple cicadas stuck like this. They're not dead just paralyzed an intended larval meal. I don't know yet if they ever wake up from their slumber and wonder how they got wedged in our deck. Maybe I'll pay attention this weekend; if I find out I'll let you know.

For some actual, factual information about cicada killers:

http://www.ca.uky.edu/entomology/entfacts/ef004.asp

For some just for fun and funny information:

http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com/2007/07/return-of-cicada-killers.html