Cicadas, Watch Out!

This scary-looking creature was browsing the weeds by my work site and I grabbed a few pictures of it. I asked around and it turns out to be a sphecius speciosus, or cicada killer wasp.

I've seen these around the neighborhood over the years but never thought about them. They're completely harmless unless you're a cicada. If you are, you might be paralyzed with that nasty stinger, then used as the food that your killer's eggs are laid in.

46th Street is a good place for me to learn new bugs. One year ago yesterday I blipped an Eastern Tiger Swallowtail butterfly only fifty feet down the block.