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How do cicada-killer wasps use cicadas to feed their young?
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homopteran
Newly emerged adult cicada (Neotibicen pruinosus).
Cicada-killer wasps (genus Sphecius) are solitary wasps that act as parasitoids to provide food for their offspring.1
The process functions as follows:
- Hunting and Paralysis: The female wasp hunts for cicadas, often catching them in flight. She uses her sting to inject venom, which paralyzes the cicada without killing it.12
- Provisioning: The wasp transports the paralyzed cicada to an underground burrow she has excavated in well-drained soil.12
- Egg Deposition: She places the cicada into an individual cell within the burrow and lays an egg directly on the host's body.12
- Larval Development: After a few days, the egg hatches. Because the cicada remains alive but immobilized, it serves as a fresh, sustained food source for the developing larva.1
The larva consumes the cicada and remains in the burrow until it emerges as an adult the following season.2