it called the giant hornet and not the Japanese kind

[TwT]

found one of these hornets flying around me to while I was cooking on the grill, its called the European Hornet and will attack a hive and eat everything. this thing is huge I knocked it down and put it in a jar... first one I ever saw...I thought it was a humming bird at first glance... had to seach the internet to see what it was and this was it


here's a quote from the site below >>>

Workers usually hunt active insects, which they masticate and feed to the larvae in the cells of the nest combs.  They have been known to raid bee hives, taking the bees and their larvae and pupae as food, but leaving the honey


http://www.uark.edu/depts/entomolo/museum/crabro.html

[Zoot]

TwT,
That was a great link. very informative. Unfortuantely, these insects are plentiful here in MD and I am disconcerted to learn of their ability to harm honey bees. Some years they seem to be almost as abundant as the more common wasps and have done massive damage to our lilacs and some other shrubs (girdling the bark, killing the plant). Also, the warning about their stings is an understatement; I have been stung by them a number of times (usually while destroying a nest) and it's a nasty sting quite proportionate to their appearance. I believe they are also called cicada killers which is logical as I have seen one on occasion kill a cicada then grasp it to it's underside and actually fly off with it. Amazing sight.

[mark]

european hornet -vespa crabro and cicada killer wasps-sphecius speciosus are not the same.  that doesn't mean that you did not see a crabro kill a cicada   google image cicada killer and you'll get lots of pics.

[Zoot]

You're absolutely correct, and I should have clarified that a bit further (can't slip much by people on this board)..the term "cicada killer" seems to be used rather haphazardly around here. Vespa Crabro is indeed the newcomer. True cicada killers have been around a lot longer and while there are similarities (size, predatory habits, propensity to bang against lit windows or enter open ones) there is difference in coloring. Basically, you don't want to get overly intimate with either one.

[Apis629]

I found this specimen about 10 months ago when I went out to water the potted plants.  It was carrying a cicada at the time and seemed to have trouble flying wiht it.  I was wondering if this is one of those European Wasps.  I often think of the social wasps as being very small (like our palmetto wasps) but, there was a nest at my old middle school...I never go a good look at it (it was about 30 feet up a wall) but, it looked to be at least 8 inches in diameter.

[TwT]

see how this one has tear drops on it tail , thats the differents

[Apis629]

Ok.  I was looking more at the thorax and head simmulatiries but, thanks for pointing that out.  Still though, this is a HUGE hornet.  Most of the paperwasps I see are about 1/2 inch long or less.

[TwT]

Apis, what you have there is a CidadaKiller

http://www.oznet.ksu.edu/dp_hfrr/extensn/problems/CidadaKiller.htm

[wtiger]

I was stung above the right eyebrow by one of these when I was about 12 y/o.  I still have a small scar there.

[Jorn Johanesson]

I know it can be felt scarring when those giant insects are crossing your pad. Bu the fact is that they are not aggressive unless you are disturbing their home. The Bald faced hornet (Dolichovespula maculata) is the American giant wasp. The Giant Hornet is bigger but are not normal threatening people. The European hornet (Vespa crabro L.) I think is imported to USA and seen in NY about 1814. The giant Hornet is also hunting at night, so that’s why they bang against windows and open doors at night when light is on. If they get in then just turn of the light and open the window or door and the Hornet will fly away.

Both the bold faced and the giant hornet are valuable insects helping you out in the garden. They even hunt yellow jackets. And if a bee now and then end up as feed then it is just nature.

[wtiger]

Well.  Being a dumb kid who had never seen a wasp that big I had to check it out. I was never really afraid of wasp or bees.  I liked to catch bumblebees and hornets in jars so I could see them up close.  After that I still wasn't afraid.  I just learned to leave the big ones alone and observe from a safe distance.  Wasp and bee stings, if it's only one or two stings, is nothing, but those things really pack a punch.