a tale of tails, tenacity, and tedium, as told by me, usually barefoot and bellowing

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Wasp On Steroids

Imagine my delight when this insect was in my room.
So handsome he gave me the chills.
Over two inches long I knew the wasp has been taking steroids.
He displayed his stinger with pride! 
Looks kinda like a hornet or ground wasp but also looks like this guy in the third picture to me.  A very deadly Asian Hornet has a doppelganger in Arkansas.   I did not prod nor poke nor pester this one.  It was the biggest wasp like insect I've ever seen.  Called in my hero to dispatch said wasp on steroids.  I was armed with fly swats but Andrew went right for the wasp spray.  Since I'm allergic we were taking no chances. 
I know it supposed to be "Live and let be" but I enjoyed his after picture much better than his before. Certainly hope his family doesn't know what I did or it will be worse than the Hatfield's and McCoy's.  
There will be war!

22 comments:

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Yes! Stay away from them. They visited us in Virginia...literally cut through the bark of our lilac!!! They were called Japanese Hornets and are very aggressive...:)JP

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm allergic as well. No catch and release when it comes to wasps.

TexWisGirl said...

oh, dear. yeah, those kinds of allergies are nothing to take lightly.

Kathryn Dyche said...

Scary when you're allergic . . . scary even when you're not. Do you have an pen incase you get stung? We have lots of carpenter bees here. They used to freak me out because they are so curious and fly right in front of your face but they're not mean. In fact I like them because they chase the hornets off.

Sandy Livesay said...

I prefer the last picture!!! Even though it maybe beautiful when alive it's deadly for many, better him dead then you.

Irene said...

We always seem to have many wasps here in this area, but none as large as that, thank goodness. I have only been stung once and nothing horrible happened, but I think you have to be stung a second time before something does. I had one in my coffee once when I was about to take a sip. He was swimming there. xox

Irene said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Willow said...

GULP * and yes we have seen those two inch hornets here in past Summer and the freak the bedazzle out of me !!!!

Dreaming said...

I think you killed their queen. You are in trouble. BIG trouble! ;-)

Kristine said...

I think... it's a European Hornet. Not the Japanese variety which is MUCH larger and uh... a lot more dangerous. European Hornets are still pretty alarming though!

Sketching with Dogs said...

Wasps are one of the things I am most scared of, it makes my blood run cold thinking of one that is 2" long.
Lynne x

Henny Penny said...

Good grief! What a hornet! Can you imagine pulling that stinger out! I didn't know these hornets are called Cicada Killing Wasp until I saw your labels. My husband rescued a Cicada from one of these hornets once. Took it away from the hornet!

Anonymous said...

I absolutely hate yellow jackets. They are the only ones who attack without reason, sting repeatedly, and don't die after stinging. This may be a yellow jacket/red wasp hybrid, and it may be a queen. They are becoming prevalent & hearty. I would recommend you find out where the nest is and eradicate it now. If you don't do it in May, you will be sorry in August. Be safe. They are so very dangerous.

gld said...

Keep those suckers down south! So far, I haven't seen any. We now have armadillos so these may be visiting us soon. I think it looks like the European one too.

I swell up like a balloon from a wasp sting.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Oh my GOSH!!! We have ones that look just like this, and they are huge. They fly at night, and I took a picture of one after my hero killed it. I can look for the picture and e-mail it if you think you can identify it. Glad all is well.

Far Side of Fifty said...

RIP better him than you:)

Susan Kane said...

Basically anything with a stinger (exc. for bees -- they have a job to do) should die just as your photo shows: splatted in half,with guts hanging out.

DesertHen said...

Holy cow! That's one big fella there!

Practical Parsimony said...

That wasp is a hornet!

LindaG said...

Glad you weren't stung! Maybe show a photo to your local ag agent for a positive ID...

God bless. ♥

Maude Lynn said...

Yikes! Be careful!

LindaG said...

P.S. Hubby looked it up and they have been seen in Texas, Georgia, Florida, I think it was; and other states as well.

You should check with your local cooperative extension as it may be the first sighting in your area. :-|

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