| Self-strangulation happens more often to those trees | | | | from 12 to 18 inches deep. The excavated soil is piled |
| growing in narrow parkings and near buildings or walls | | | | in unsightly mounds around the openings to the |
| where the space for root growth is restricted to a | | | | burrows. The cicada killer usually selects a dry, sunny |
| small area. Trees with well-buttressed trunks are | | | | site for making the tunnel. |
| almost invariably free from root strangulation, while the | | | | When the burrow is finished the female wasp goes |
| absence of buttress roots on one side of a tree may | | | | zooming about seeking her prey and it makes your |
| indicate choking below the surface. A dull appearance | | | | beautiful cycad plants ugly... those noisy cicadas. The |
| of the bark and a depressed area in the trunk near the | | | | unwary cicada is caught "flat-footed" and both insects |
| ground surface are other signs of possible root | | | | fall to the ground where the wasp injects the pain killer |
| strangulation. Frequently the offending roots of elms | | | | and paralyzes the host. The wasp then drags the |
| and maples are plainly visible just above the ground. | | | | cicada up to a place where it "takes off" for home |
| Damage to trees can often be prevented by locating | | | | with the quiet cicada getting a free ride. Arriving at the |
| and cutting away the root traitors. It may be | | | | entrance, she drags in the cicada, tucks it away in a |
| necessary to chisel away, chip by chip, a girdling root | | | | cell, and lays an egg on it. The cicada serves as food |
| which has become embedded in the trunk. After such | | | | for the wasp larva. When the larva has had its fill, it |
| an operation the tree should be fertilized and kept | | | | makes a cozy cocoon in which it rests until next |
| supplied with plenty of water. When small trees are | | | | summer. The cicada killer is not aggressive but does |
| being planted, the holes should be large enough so that | | | | become annoying and although I have never heard of |
| the roots can be spread radially from the tree. | | | | anyone being stung by one, I for one, certainly would |
| Strangulation may result when the roots are twisted to | | | | not want one up my pants leg or in my shirt. |
| fit a small, skimpy hole. | | | | Landscape Surprise |
| The large golden digger wasp or cicada killer is a | | | | The hardy amaryllis or surprise lily, Lycoris squamigera, |
| wicked looking insect that usually becomes quite a | | | | is almost a miracle bulb. Like the colchicums, it makes a |
| nuisance around the lawn and garden in August and | | | | spring growth which lasts until about July, then |
| September. This black and yellow wasp is about 1-1/2 | | | | disappears. About a month later, a bare stem appears |
| inches long and the female carries a stinger about 1/4 | | | | like magic and quickly grows about two or three feet |
| inch long. The pest is often observed feeding on sap | | | | high and then produces an umbel of rose-lilac, |
| exuding from the bark of oaks and maples and also at | | | | lily-shaped flowers from eight to 12 in number. The bulb |
| the base of lilacs where sap may be oozing because | | | | is perfectly hardy. Plant now in a well-drained place, |
| of borer attack. Lawns are frequently damaged by | | | | covering the bulbs with about four inches of soil. |
| these wasps which dig burrows 1/2 inch across and | | | | |