Black Cicada

You might have noticed some large wasps in your yard or on campus this summer. These wasps are known as cicada killers, identified by their size and their black abdomens with three yellow spots on either side, rather than stripes across the back. These insects do exactly what their name says—kill cicadas, a larger insect that has eyes set wide apart, thin wings and a unique song. The wasps are focused on the cicadas, leaving little threat to humans and other animals. We caught up with Rudy Mancke, naturalist-in-residence at the University of South Carolina, to learn more about the cicada killer wasps buzzing around the university's Horseshoe. What is the difference between the cicada killer wasps and regular wasps? "The cicada killer is not a social insect, meaning it does not instinctively protect a nest. Social wasps are typically aggressive because they are guarding their colony and nest. The cicada killer is a solitary wasp, which means these insects act as pr

Once they're here, you know summer's here, too: You don't have to live in the desert Southwest for very long to learn that once the first cicadas of the year can be heard broadcasting their piercing buzz from invisible locations in the trees, it's time to kiss spring goodbye and say hello to the blast furnace that is June in much of Arizona. We talked with UA entomologist Gene Hall about cicadas and how they do the things they do. We bet you didn't know that: 1. Cicadas are essentially tiny violins with wings.  The body of a  cicada  is similar to that of a violin or a guitar, in that much of it consists of empty, air-filled spaces that act as a resonating chamber and amplify the sound they generate. "The loud noise we hear is the male's mating call—females are silent," Hall says. "Some species produce that loud whirl that we hear around here, while others make more of a soft clicking sound. Each species of cicada has its own mating call,

Sometimes nature plays tricks on us. What we think we know to be true may not be. Animals, for example, have lots of secrets, like their remarkable use of color to attract mates or disguise themselves from predators. Well, it turns out they've been using colors in ways that have been tricking us humans as well.