Cicada Killer Wasp

Sphecius speciosus, the eastern cicada-killer wasp, is a large, solitary digger wasp in the family Bembicidae, named for its habit of hunting cicadas to provision its nests. Cicada killers exert a measure of natural control on cicada populations and so may directly benefit the deciduous trees on which cicadas feed; they are sometimes mistakenly called sand hornets, despite not being true hornets, which belong to the separate family Vespidae.