Thanks for all the information. I haven't seen one of the wasps at all, just the hole and have not seen any new holes since I put water down it. I have assured my neighbors that they are harmless. It must have been another type of ground bee that swarmed and stung me a few years ago. They were much smaller than what these sound like.

Allthingsplant is great for getting gardening help. I had only posted the photo 20 minutes before someone ID'ed it for me even though I was in the wrong forum.

Just another bit of FYI-- wasps and cicada killers do look similar... :)

Ground wasps---these will "light you up" if they get disturbed!! Nasty critters--much smaller than cicada killers....



This is a "killer" doin' her thing!! I watched them do this in my yard.... very interesting to see. They will paralyze the cicada, drag it into their hole, lay an egg on it and the larva will use the cicada as food....

I guess that is why they are so big , must take a lot of work to drag a cicada.

Great shots Kim. It was the ground wasps that got me a few years ago. Hopefully, won't be sitting on one of those holes again soon!