Had a bitey couple of weeks. Went thru lots of bandaids and physical pain but was able to make my hands look nice enough for a wedding yesterday. Got soooo many compliments on them! Was only slightly embarrassed when people held my hands to get a better look 😂
Cicada killer wasps (genus Sphecius) are large, solitary, ground-dwelling, predatory wasps. They are so named because they hunt cicadas and provision their nests with them, after stinging and paralyzing them.
Adults: Mature wasps feed primarily on flower nectar and tree sap.
Hunting: Females hunt annual cicadas by mid-air collision, injecting a paralytic venom to immobilize the prey.
Nesting: Females dig ground burrows in dry, sandy, or loose soil, storing the paralyzed cicadas inside chambers as live food for their hatching offspring.
When to a broadway play... got reminded that my parter of over ten years never seems happy to be around me. .... I've been picking ALL day 😔
Had some brief relapses but doing well!! I put on these press ons yesterday ☺️ for once I feel cute. I've been completely avoiding acknowledging my pinkie toes. I don't even want to look at them to take a pic lol but right now they're in NO pain!
36 F... living with OCD and picking for over 20 years. Mainly focused on fingertips and pinky toes. There are times when it has gotten so bad I have been limping on both feet, avoided social situations, been in excruciating pain that has actually kept me up at night. All of this has been "normal" to me for decades. I have bled under the table at restaurants... worn black socks intentionally so I could soak up the blood while trying to hide it. Gone through insane amounts of Band-Aids in short periods of time.
I've been able to quit before but always relapsed. I'm going to try again but this time I'm going to document the progress. It's been a real inspiration to me finding this sub! I'm so grateful for y'all sharing your journeys and making me feel less ashamed and alone. 💕
I decided to give it another shot. July 31, 2026 I took my first photos. It's been 12 days of limited finger picking. Unfortunately I just attacked my pinky toenail a couple hours ago but I've put a Band-Aid on it and socks I am going to ignore it. 😵💫 but I feel like my other pinky toe wants to be in the same amount of pain to make it even 😭.
Wish me luck! Fingers moisturized and crossed 🤞
A female Eastern Cicada Killer wasp hunts, stings, and paralyzes a cicada, dragging the immobilized insect to an underground burrow to serve as
a living food source for her hatching larvae. This brutal predatory behavior is a grim life cycle rather than a sexual act. ® Facebook • KOCO 5... +1
The Reality of the Interaction
• Predation, Not Mating: The wasp does not mate with or rape the cicada; it subdues the insect using venom.
• Paralysis: The sting injects venom that paralyzes the cicada without killing it, keeping the prey fresh until the wasp larva hatches.
• The Nesting Process: The female carries the heavy, comatose cicada back to an
underground tunnel, places it in a chamber, and lays an egg on it.
• The Larval Stage: Once hatched, the wasp grub consumes the still-living cicada from the inside out.