Another one for the bug guys

[Tom Raymond]

I inspected a 1975 mansard yesterday that had what appeared to be Cicada Killer Wasps nesting in one of the large mansard cavities.

What makes a solitary ground wasp hive in a wall cavity?

Or, What social hive wasp looks like a cicada killer?

Thanks,

[ghentjr]

Go to this page. Many wasps look like cicada killers. You may have seen one of the more aggressive types of wasp. Generally the CK lives in the ground and does not attack humans.

https://www.google.com/search?q=wasps&c ... 07&bih=865

[Jim Katen]

I inspected a 1975 mansard yesterday that had what appeared to be Cicada Killer Wasps nesting in one of the large mansard cavities.

What makes a solitary ground wasp hive in a wall cavity?

Or, What social hive wasp looks like a cicada killer?

Thanks,

The cicada killer might be in the attic if the attic has some kind of insulation that mimics the properties of soil. I can see a cicada killer nesting in dense-pack cellulose, for instance. Their behavior is governed by simple sets of rules, like algorithms. She doesn't understand the difference between an attic and the ground, she's just looking for a substrate with the right properties.

On the other hand, you might have been looking at European Hornets. They're pretty big and might be mistaken for cicada killers, but their behavior would have been very different, especially if you were waving a ladder around the nest area.

[Tom Raymond]

They weren't agressive toward me, but they hated the motion light. Every time it came on there was a dozen of them banging into it.

Hive behavior. In and out of the eave, one after another for hours.

[Jim Katen]

They weren't agressive toward me, but they hated the motion light. Every time it came on there was a dozen of them banging into it.

Hive behavior. In and out of the eave, one after another for hours.

Those weren't cicada killers then.

[ghentjr]

They weren't agressive toward me, but they hated the motion light. Every time it came on there was a dozen of them banging into it.

Hive behavior. In and out of the eave, one after another for hours.

Those weren't cicada killers then.

You might want to buy a lottery ticket.