Large Wasp!!

[IROC]

So I go out to close my garage door yesterday evening and I hear what sounds like a small bird buzzing around one of the windows in the garage. I walk over to the window and see the largest wasp I think I have ever seen. It actually gave me chills it was so big. So, I sprayed carburetor cleaner on it.

Come to find out it is an "Eastern Cicada Killer" and really isn't harmful to humans. I kinda feel bad now. Sorry for the bad cell phone picture, but you can see how big it was...

[slow&rusty]

How did you identify it as an Eastern Cicada Killer? I don't trust those things..they would not think twice about tearing you up if they felt threatended, so don't feel bad. The stinger is crazy on that..wow.

[R K T]

The BIG RED ones have an attitude! If you happen to cross into their flight plan, they're on you. I was staining our deck and I guess one was scouting out the underside for a new home......WHAM! Up on my inner thigh, felt like fire, intense. Swelled up to the size of a golf ball.

I watched another one, one of the black ones carry a big caterpillar to a hole in the ground. Pulled it inside, came out and covered up the hole, and flew off. I guess it'll come back when it's hungry....

[Bryans951]

I have a bunch of those on one side of my yard. I always seem to be pushing the mower while they are buzzing around. Never been aggressive towards me.
They stuff their prey in the hole with their eggs. The larvae feed on it till spring. Sure would hate to be a cicada.

[IROC]

Originally Posted by Bryans951

I have a bunch of those on one side of my yard. I always seem to be pushing the mowed while they are buzzing around. Never been aggressive towards me.
They stuff their prey in the hole with their eggs. The larvae feed on it till spring. Sure would hate to be a cicada.

Yeah, according to Wikipedia, the males can't sting at all and the females only sting if "handled roughly". Evidently, you can pick these things up and they won't necessarily sting you. I wasn't about to test that theory.

[A930Rocket]

If it has a stinger and flies, then it's dead in my book.

[azasadny]

Kill 'em all, let God sort'em out...

[stomachmonkey]

We have those down here. You could bury an elephant with the amount of dirt they dig up when boring their holes. Not aggressive at all.

Now those Red ones, we have them as well and they are scary mfr's.

Brake cleaner just pisses them off.

Apparently they are inactive at night and the recommended course of action is to freeze the nest with a fire extinguisher then dispose of.

[Steve Viegas]

In CA we generally don't get big bugs, but there is an exception to every rule I suppose. This is not an uncommon site when river rafting.

http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/2010/07/16/tarantula-hawks-deliver-the-big-sting/

Called a Tarantula Hawk. The stinger looks over 1/2" long, but I have not volunteered to check it out up close, just watched them fly overhead.

[azasadny]

Ouch!!!

[R K T]

OK, I just came in from working in the back yard and saw....actually heard it first....a very large black one with a white spot on it's back. Came up and checked me out and left. Probably because I smell like I've been working in the yard....96 degrees @ about 80% humidity. That sucker sounded like a R/C airplane motor!!



I learned many many years ago NOT to swat at them, just look at them and smile. They usually go away. If you swat or slap at one you just PISS them off and they will chase you (me) for a mile.

[vash]

anyone ever been stung?

when i was a kid, at church camp. i got up on a loose rock. i was talking, laughing..and rocking on this loose rock like it was teeter-tooter. i heard them first..a buzzing whoosh. my mind was so fast. i saw the first yellow jacket, and i was GONE! fastest chinese kid ever seen. i never looked back. just my converse all stars blurred. nobody got stung. lucky.

anyone ever seen one of those Giant angry japan hornets? they are something like 2" long, and will attack.

[mikester]

when I first moved to CA back in 1984 I was climbing a palm tree outside of the temporary housing and I guess I disturbed some yellow jackets - those buggers are FAST!

All I remember was hearing myself scream and falling from the tree onto the ground and then running like the road runner back to our room. I had 4 nice big welts in various places around my body.

It flipping hurt too.

A couple of weeks ago I was doing some yard work and there were a few standing puddles on this hot day. That attracted bees and wasps... Big wasps. I sprayed them with my hose and they eventually took off. They would come back a while later and get the same treatment. I'm surprised I didn't get stung.

[wdfifteen]

At least he died clean.

[GH85Carrera]

We have the cicada killers around here as well. They are a mean looking bug but they are very non aggressive.

We have a hawk moth that looks like a humming bird, really. That sucker is huge.

[Roosterrusek]

Yeah, I was stung by one of those...When I was a kid visit Granny in Tulsa OK, I was mowing her lawn for her and BAM, right on top of my foot. It hurt like hell and my foot got so swollen my Mom had to cut the laces off of my sneakers to get my shoe off.

Dad's way of handling the issue, get a 3 gallon gas tank, stuff it in their hole emptying all the gas into it, walking about 15 feet away, rolled up a newspaper, lit it, tossed it to the hole. the resuling flame was easily 20 feet high....

Not really the smartest method but it got rid of the wasps and was a frickin impressive show!

[Laneco]

I'm going to share a story regarding why it is hazardous to be married to me...

Our daughter was just a toddler, so this was 17 or 18 years ago. We were at a company picnic at park beside a river. Between the flat grassy gathering area of the park, was a steep, nearly vertical slope toward the river that was engulfed with blackberry bushes.

We were having a silly contest. The guys were blindfolded and had their legs in gunny sacks. I know, I know, you fellas already know this is going to be bad for Steve... The female signficant others have the task of verbally guiding the guys through a figure 8 obstacle course with a sprint toward the finish line! How fun! How exciting! What idiot put the finish line facing the drop off?

Steve was doing a GREAT job, he was neck and neck (dare I say sack to sack?) with another guy. Shouts of encouragement! GO GO! and they cross the finish line. Except I forgot to tell Steve to STOP. He was still blindfolded and bouncing merrily along in the gunny sack when he bailed off the edge of the embankment.

He landed in a patch of dirt with a terrific impact and then bounced, still in the gunny sack, into the blackberry vines. When he made the first impact, a huge funnel of these horrible black wasps erupted from the ground. Steve, still in the sack and blindfolded, had figured out he was in the blackberries and thought that THOSE were stinging him. Fat chance. One of my co-workers, Paul was first over the bank, I followed a few steps later, everyone else ran for cover. Paul and I got nailed a bunch of times, but nothing compared to Steve.

Steve was covered with stings. He had so many we had to take him to urgent care. Pills and a shot, a week off work... Plus half the staff at my company was out for 2 or 3 days due to wasp stings. We didn't have any more company picnics after that.

And Steve still won't let me put a blind fold on him.

angela

[GH85Carrera]

Gee I can't imagine why!

[Steve Viegas]

Originally Posted by Laneco

I'm going to share a story regarding why it is hazardous to be married to me...

Our daughter was just a toddler, so this was 17 or 18 years ago. We were at a company picnic at park beside a river. Between the flat grassy gathering area of the park, was a steep, nearly vertical slope toward the river that was engulfed with blackberry bushes.

We were having a silly contest. The guys were blindfolded and had their legs in gunny sacks. I know, I know, you fellas already know this is going to be bad for Steve... The female signficant others have the task of verbally guiding the guys through a figure 8 obstacle course with a sprint toward the finish line! How fun! How exciting! What idiot put the finish line facing the drop off?

Steve was doing a GREAT job, he was neck and neck (dare I say sack to sack?) with another guy. Shouts of encouragement! GO GO! and they cross the finish line. Except I forgot to tell Steve to STOP. He was still blindfolded and bouncing merrily along in the gunny sack when he bailed off the edge of the embankment.

He landed in a patch of dirt with a terrific impact and then bounced, still in the gunny sack, into the blackberry vines. When he made the first impact, a huge funnel of these horrible black wasps erupted from the ground. Steve, still in the sack and blindfolded, had figured out he was in the blackberries and thought that THOSE were stinging him. Fat chance. One of my co-workers, Paul was first over the bank, I followed a few steps later, everyone else ran for cover. Paul and I got nailed a bunch of times, but nothing compared to Steve.

Steve was covered with stings. He had so many we had to take him to urgent care. Pills and a shot, a week off work... Plus half the staff at my company was out for 2 or 3 days due to wasp stings. We didn't have any more company picnics after that.

And Steve still won't let me put a blind fold on him.

angela

I cannot even comprehend how painful that sounds.