Backyard Killers

Cicada Killers, that is. This is a wasp species that preys on Annual Cicadas- the females find a cicada in the trees, sting it, and then pick the cicada up, haul it up a tree, and launch themselves into the air to get back to their burrows. It can take them a few tries and several climbs to gain enough altitude for the flight. Once there, they drag the cicada down the hole, lay an egg on it, and then seal the hole. The egg hatches into a larvae that eats the cicada and them metamorphoses into an adult wasp. The cicadas are a bit larger than the wasps, who are themselves about an inch and a half long. At present there's three or four males (this is one of them) squabbling over territory near the side gate. They will check you out if you walk near the fence but are actually not aggressive towards humans. As they're the size they are, though, and with the bright black and white abdomens, they definitely get your attention, especially when they buzz past you a foot away. Occasionally as they're chasing each other they'll collide with the siding on the house with a very audible "thunk".