Cicada Killer Wasps

Cicada Killer wasps have now arrived upon the grounds at Glen Echo CC. This wasp normally is not harmful to humans but they do have the capability of stinging a person. The female of the species is the only one that can actually sting a person. They like to burrow into bunker banks and green banks. Two of their favorite locations are the right green bank of #3 and the complete bank on hole #17. We would normally leave this creature alone but they burrow into the ground and push their the dirt they've excavated out of their tunnels into a pile. This pile is rather unsightly and will kill turf grass if left unattended. They are also capable of burrowing into finer turf areas such as greens. A superintendent from Virginia reported that he had 20 burrows on one green this summer.

We spray insecticide down into the burrow of the insect once it has been made. We will also use a tennis racket to knock the flying wasps out of the air to reduce their impacts on our turf.









The link below gives some great information regarding this insect.

http://ohioline.osu.edu/hyg-fact/2000/2078A.html


The picture below is a view of this insect.
























The picture below gives you an idea of the amount of dirt these insects put out onto our turfed areas. That two-way radio is about 6-8" long and about 3" wide. A fairly substantial amount of dirt that can be placed out on the turf. Once we spray the dens, we will then kick the dirt around to prevent too much damage to our turf.

















The tennis racket and the mounds behind 17 green where you might see us swatting at these insects from time to time. We use the tennis racket so we can use less insecticides.