Ground-Nesting Velvet Ants & Cicada Killers: Both Are Found in Dry Areas of Bare Ground

摘要

In late summer, grasses are browning out, bare patches and new holes are appearing in lawns. Some of the holes are made by cicadas emerging, or cicada killer wasps that prey on the cicadas, or ground-nesting bees. You may get reports of colorful velvet ants running across open ground in yards. These "ants" are actually wasps that parasitize ground-nesting bees and wasps. Velvet ants are solitary; they don't have a nest or a colony.