Are Cicada Killer Wasps Living in Magic Valley and Was One in My Yard?

It has been beautiful weather in Southern Idaho the last few weeks and my son loves to spend time outdoors when the weather permits. Actually, he’d stay outside even in bad weather if we didn’t make him come inside. This week he was outside breaking rocks with a hammer, because that’s what boys do, and he found a few holes in the ground near our driveway. They kind of looked like ant hill holes, but the bug that came out of them was definitely not an ant.

Was this a Cicada Killer Wasp in My Yard?

While we were debating whether to smash the ground burrow or light it on fire, a rather large bug flew out of the hole. It didn’t attack or, even seem interested in us. After a while, it came flying back carrying a grasshopper. That’s when we decided that this creature needed to die. If it was big enough to carry a grasshopper and had the ability to catch and kill one, we didn’t want it by our driveway where we hang out.

We may have been harsh and misguided in our killing of the bug. Because after searching for information we found that it was probably a Western Cicada Killer Wasp. We were extra happy that it wasn’t a Murder Hornet! The Cicada Killer Wasp can grow up to 2 inches long, has more of a brownish red and yellow coloring, feasts on cicadas (or grasshoppers in my yard), and won’t bother my family unless we bother it first. So, this type of wasp is much better than the spawn of Satan Paper Wasps and Yellow Jackets we see more frequently.

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Have you seen one of these burrowing in your yard in Idaho? If you do see one, you can report it to the Idaho Fish and Game to add to their observations page.

RELATED STORY: Wasps are Jerks and Here’s How to Fight Them in Idaho