2020 Strikes Again: Killer Wasps in New Mexico

When it comes to 2020, I don’t dare ask, “What’s next?”

Of course, there’s the coronavirus pandemic that took hold earlier this year. Then we started hearing reports of giant Asian murder hornets arriving in North America. There was a rare fire tornado spotted in a wildfire in Northern California just the other day. And now there are cicada killer wasps popping up in New Mexico.

To be fair, they’re not a new thing (even though I’ve never heard of them before). They’re also not deadly to anything other than cicadas.

Regardless, they look scary as hell. According to the Las Cruces Sun-News, cicada killer wasps are about 2.5 inches long with a plump body and resemble a typical hornet. They’re black in color with yellow stripes and wings that range from orange to brown in color, with a 3-inch span.

The wasps live underground, preferably in sandy soils. They spend their days hunting cicadas, which they paralyze and then take to their nests to lay eggs inside of them. They can make a loud buzzing sound and are often spotted hovering near the ground and may be carrying prey that can be as big or bigger than the wasp itself.

They’re not typically a threat to humans or pets. However, you wouldn’t want to harass one.