[3] The most recent review of this species' biology is found in the posthumously published comprehensive study by noted entomologist Howard Ensign Evans.

[citation needed] Adult eastern cicada wasps are large, 1.5 to 5.0 cm (0.6 to 2.0 in) long, robust wasps with hairy, reddish, and black areas on their thoraces (middle parts), and black to reddish brown abdominal (rear) segments that are marked with light yellow stripes.

The females are somewhat larger than the males, and both are among the largest wasps seen in the Eastern United States, their unusual size giving them a uniquely fearsome appearance.

[4] Adults emerge in summer, typically beginning around late June or early July and die off in September or October.

[8] The large females are commonly seen skimming around lawns seeking good sites to dig burrows and searching for cicadas in trees and taller shrubs.

[4] The males are more often seen in groups, vigorously challenging one another for position on the breeding aggregation from which they emerged, and generally investigate anything that moves or flies near them.

[4] This ground-burrowing wasp may be found in well-drained, sandy to loose clay soils in bare or grass-covered banks, berms, and hills, as well as next to raised sidewalks, driveways and patio slabs.

[4] Although cicada killers are large, females are not aggressive and rarely sting unless they are grasped roughly, stepped upon with bare feet, or caught in clothing.

Alternatively, when they were already distinct species, significant hybridization occurred between them, though not enough to fully overcome their present reproductive isolation.

[12] Sphecius spectabilis (Taschenberg, 1875), is found in the South American countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, French Guiana, Paraguay, Surinam, and Venezuela.

[citation needed] Sixteen other cicada-killer wasp species in the genus Sphecius are found in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia.

Other genera of cicada-killing wasps (e.g., Liogorytes in South America and Exeirus in Australia) are the "cicada killers" of their native lands.