Frequently Asked Questions About Insects - Department of Entomology at Texas A&M University

Frequently Asked Questions

Topic:	Cicadas
Question:	What are the winged insects that are emerging from the sandy soil in EastTexas? It happened last year about the same time of the year. They look like large wasps but are almost lethargic in nature. Some have wings and some do not. There are many holes and sand piles in the ground and many can be seen actually still in the holes. They are not cicadas as they do not make any noises. What are these creatures that emerged overnight?
Answer:	Most likely they are cicadas. They won't make noise until they harden and fly off. The immatures crawl out and have no wings. The adults will have wings when the hatch from the immature skin. There are also several wasp species that nest in the soil. One of them actually is called the cicada killer, a beneficial insect, and will use cicadas as food for the wasp larva. See the second link below.
Related Link:	http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/aimg82.html
Related Link:	http://insects.tamu.edu/fieldguide/cimg331.html
Image Link: **
Response by:	John A. Jackman, Ph.D.
Title:	Professor and Extension Specialist
** Most of the Related Links above also contain images.