Description

Photographed are two insects ... a Cicada Killer Wasp and her prey ... a Cicada. Cicadas are large robust insects which resemble horse flies and emit a loud high pitched sound from the treetops in summer. They are more often heard than seen. The Cicada Killer Wasp first tunnels a nest in bare ground ... often at the edge of a lawn. The tunnel ends as a chamber. Once the nest is complete, the wasp sets out in search of a Cicada, stings it, and then carries back to the nest. She then drags the dead Cicada to the chamber below and lays a single egg on or near the prey. The egg will hatch into a larvae which will then use the Cicada as a food source.

I have witnessed this behaviour many times. Today I decided to photograph it. Amazing stuff!

I used a Canon 20D with a 100 mm Canon macro lens. Shutter speed ranged from 1/2000 - 1/6000th second. Some shots were handheld and with one I used a tripod. The entire shoot took about three hours. These are three of the best photos.

Model : Canon EOS 20D
DateTime : 2005:07:21 04:22:14
ExposureProgram : Shutter Priority
ISOSpeedRatings : 400
ShutterSpeedValue : 1/2000 - 1/6000Sec
ApertureValue : F 2,8 - 3.5
ExposureBiasValue : EV-0.5
MeteringMode : Division
FocalLength : 100.00(mm)