Just killed a flying terror

[reed1285]

Ive never seen one of these around my place till this morning. Sounded like the chinook of the insect world flying around my porch. It took 3 blasts of a good wasp and hornet killer to bring him down. I can only imagine what kind of pain the dagger on the tail end of this bad boy would bring! Quarter for scale.






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[Steelharp]

What the heck IS that??

[felinesNfreedom]

Satan

[bigun]

Too big for insect spray...... Try a .45

[K191145]

I'm not sure what you call those but the absolute most painful stings I ever had came from one years ago, got me on the back of may arm, it bled. I didn't get sick, like hornets their sting is designed for extream pain. Glad you killed the bastid. What's more effective than wasp and hornet spray is a Sears Ted Williams single shot 12 guage, when I was 15 I was out shooting stuff, had a field load in my ol trusty TW 12 and a red wasp was harrassing me. He/she finally landed on the muzzle and stuck half it's body in the barrell, I had it pointed up in the air, I vaporized it. Kinda like shooting a person with a "16 naval gun on a battleship.  :)

Edited May 11, 2015 by K191145

[reed1285]

What the heck IS that??

I have no idea but would like to know myself!


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[peejman]

Looks like a European Hornet.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hornet

 

Big, mean, and scary... but they eat other wasps. 

[dralarms]

Looks like a yellow jacket.

[felinesNfreedom]

Looks like a European Hornet.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/European_hornet

 

Big, mean, and scary... but they eat other wasps. 

 

 

I get the creeps just reading that page and seeing the pictures...

[Dolomite_supafly]

There is also a giant hornet that kills cicadas. I watched "something" knock a cicada out of the air as it flew. I walked over to see what it was and from about 10 feet away I head crunching sounds. I watched it remove the cicadas head then the wasp grabbed the cicada and flew off with it. The wasp was over an inch long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus

 

The one wasp that scares the bejesus out of me doesn't even fly, at least the females don't. It is the velvet ant and crawls across the ground like a giant ant. The males will swarm above the female and it is easy to see when the female is in the area because of the males hovering above her. She is few and the males are black with a white strip. They call it a cow killer and even though I have never been stung I have heard, and read, of the pain involved with being stung. I read the pain can last up to 6 months. You can hear the female  too as flaps the stubs that are her wings.

[reed1285]

That wiki page is right in that they are aggressive!


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[KKing]

I've heard them called Australian Hornets, I have no idea what they are really called. Usually what I call them isn't kid friendly.

 

Edit: Looks like Eropean Hornet it is!

Edited May 11, 2015 by KKing

[npgunner]

When I get to heaven I'm going to ask God why he created such vile beasts ...
... and how the heck Noah managed to survive with all of them on a boat.

[10-Ring]

Encountered tons of those when I lived in Blount County, found a nest of them in a hollow tree once. Never was stung by one but never taunted them either.

[Oh Shoot]

There is also a giant hornet that kills cicadas. I watched "something" knock a cicada out of the air as it flew. I walked over to see what it was and from about 10 feet away I head crunching sounds. I watched it remove the cicadas head then the wasp grabbed the cicada and flew off with it. The wasp was over an inch long.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus

 

Yep, that's it, cicada killer, a solitary wasp quite common in E TN at least, seen them all my life. My wife got zapped by one on hand while doing carpentry many years ago, arm kept swelling up higher and higher, but she was somewhat allergic to stings in general. Told her if swelling got above the elbow we were going to ER but it stopped below it. She said sting didn't seem to hurt any more than those common big reddish wasps.

 

The one wasp that scares the bejesus out of me doesn't even fly, at least the females don't. It is the velvet ant and crawls across the ground like a giant ant..... They call it a cow killer..

 

Yeah, the red and black velvet ant is known as the "cow killer". Also quite common in E.TN, seen them all my life too. Males look similar, but are winged.

 

- OS

Edited May 11, 2015 by Oh Shoot

[Oh Shoot]

Encountered tons of those when I lived in Blount County, found a nest of them in a hollow tree once.

 

Those were almost certainly hornets. The cicada killer is a solitary type.

 

- OS

[Chucktshoes]

Already been stung by a wasp this season. Was on a run coming back from IL a few days ago and I guess one had gotten into the truck and taken up residence on my tissue that I had in the cup holder. I grabbed it and blew my nose and the bastard crawled across my cheek onto my hand and stung me on the finger then disappeared! I got the truck pulled over on the side of the highway and spent 10 minutes looking for the asshole before I found, squashed, and threw his carcass out the window. Did not enjoy.

[mikegideon]

It's a hornet. Had a few hanging around in my front yard last year after I dug up an old dead yellow jacket nest. Biggest wasps I've ever seen. I sprayed the whole area and they left.

[Someotherguy]

Yep, that is a european hornet, very aggressive in the fall as it starts to cool down..I used to have a bunch of them around the house i just moved from, they fed off a large pear tree that was on the property...

[Grand Torino]

Son of a biscuit. That thing is just from the devil....no doubt about it.

[enfield]

I shot one earlier this year while bee hunting. I leave wasps alone, but don't tolerate hornets.

[tyguy]

Blount Co confirmation on both cicada killers and cow killers. I've had both around the house, but no stings. The cicada killers aren't so aggressive and will actually bounce off of things. When they are around they are constantly bouncing off the back of my house. The cow killers haven't been around for a while, but I've never found a tougher bug to kill. Its almost impossible to smash them with a shoe or boot on the grass.

[TNWNGR]

I was stung on the back of my head by one of those buggers. It felt like I'd been hit by a baseball bat and after a couple of steps dropped me to my knees. Made me sick for a bit. Afterwards I poisoned all of the little monsters in that location.

[Lumber_Jack]

I always called them yellow hornets because I didn't know. Nasty things

[mikegideon]

I shot one earlier this year while bee hunting. I leave wasps alone, but don't tolerate hornets.

 

I used to be that way, until one of those yellow jackets stung me in the face. Now, if I can kill them, I will.