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Big Wasp

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Anonymous

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John

Around 9 or 10 months ago (a hot day as I remember), I was coming home from a friend's house and on my route to my journey way home I walked past this garage. I useally always walk past this garage from my way home and something caught my eye on the wall next to the door to the garage...

http://www.forteantimes.com/happened/bigwasp.shtml

Link is dead. See post below for complete text.
 
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I saw a wasp about that size many years ago, when I was a teenager.
It was stuck in a shop window, and couldn't get out.
It had a long body, with what appeared to be a very long stinger.
My Dad told me it was a rare type of wasp (no idea what type it was), and that the body size and stinger were actually an ovipositor - for laying eggs.

What you saw may have been a queen of that species, looking for somewhere to start a nest.
 
Wasp

Umm, hate to be a naysayer, but could it have been fake - like a toy?
 
If you saw this large wasp in the USA, it probably was the one commonly called "Cicada Killer." They lay their eggs inside cicadas (for those who have never never seen a cicada, they're quite large, hence the wasp must be large.) I'm sorry I don't have the wasp's formal scientific name available, but I can look it up, if anyone wants it.
 
Re: Wasp

Shane said:
Umm, hate to be a naysayer, but could it have been fake - like a toy?
Click to expand...

Nope. It was bashing itself against the window, trying to get out.
 
Wildlife said:
If you saw this large wasp in the USA, it probably was the one commonly called "Cicada Killer." They lay their eggs inside cicadas (for those who have never never seen a cicada, they're quite large, hence the wasp must be large.)
Click to expand...

How big do cicadas get, then? Because at 12cm long with a 6cm wingspan, this wasp sounds pretty dayum big!
 
Cicadas are huge and apparently quite scary if you've never seen one before; when I was in Crete all the pale flabby people were having fits because of them.
Are Cicada killers a type of potter wasp, 'cos I've met them, and they are a little scary.
 
Potter wasps are longer and thinner than that...but I doubt they could reach 12cm.
 
It says here that the largest social wasp on record is the Japanese Giant Hornet (Vespa mandarinia). It is a very large-sized wasp with a body length of 27 - 45 mm; the queens reach 5.5 cm in length.

So, was it a wasp or a wasp-like insect? Some insects imitate the markings of others to avoid predators.
 
Could have been a large robber fly or ichnummon (sp), possibly?
 
More!
Ichneumon Wasps
There are a number of Ichnuemon wasps (Order Hymenoptera) in the genera Rhyssa and Megarhyssa which frequently attract people attention because they are several inches long and have an ovipositor that is as long as or even longer than the body. Do not panic they will not harm you, the ovipositor (the bit that looks like a stinger) is for laying eggs not stinging people. These wasps lay their eggs on the larvae of other hymenopterans in the family Siricidae called Wood Wasps or Horntails, (Sawflies (Symphyta) whose larvae live in dead wood), they use the long ovipositors to drill down through the wood to lay their eggs on the Wood Wasp larva. The ovipositor has two sheaths which may make the insect look like it has 3 long tails.
The most commonly see species are Megarhyssa atrata, Megarhyssa greenei floridana, and Megarhyssa macrurus
Click to expand...

They also have some Web Links, including pics.
 
Hurrah! The Wasp Forum came up with this:
Three species of Pepsis (tarantula-hawk) from South America are known to have wingspans exceeding 11 cm; bodies to 6.5 cm. The Indonesian scoliid wasp, Megascolia procer, attains a robust body length of 6 cm. The largest hornet is the Oriental bee-wolf, Vespa mandarina - body about 4 cm.
Click to expand...
 
Probably a Ichnuemon, though, since the insect described had a wingspan smaller than its length. It seems to be the other way around for the other bugs.
 
There are some moths that emulate the shape and form of bees and wasps- some of these may be bigger than any true wasp but I don't recall the details.
 
Why are ichneumon wasps so-called? I always thought an ichneumon was a type of mongoose.
 
Tadaa!
ichneumon - 1572, originally a weasel-like animal in Egypt, from Gk. ichneumon, lit. "searcher," perhaps because it hunts crocodile eggs, from ichneuein "hunt for, track," from ichnos "a track," of unknown origin. Used by Aristotle for a species of wasp that hunts spiders
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"It was bashing itself against the window, trying to ge

I've never really been scared of wasps, or bees, or anything like that -mosquitoes are evil, though, eeeeeevil... stray mosquitoes flyin' in my ear today alone nearly caused me to break a lamp, a window, a La-z-boy...
But I've seen the mass hysteria generated by onea them tiny little bugs lookin' fer a way outta the room... 'cause of the screamin', I imagine.


I could see someone moving, and/or setting fire to the house over something like that.

Though I imagine the wasp faired worst in this incident.



Aaanyhow, not discountin' senslessly large insects (I've seen a few myself out here), readin' these posts I was struck by the bizzarely clever idea that maybe, maybe the window (or window-like device) was magnifyin' the wasp. Y'know, no technical mind on me so no tellin' how likely that solution is... without diggin' out a ruler, I can't really be sure how big 12cm (or whatever it was) is anyway.


...yeah, an' I's Canadian, so I should know metric, at least...
 
Hum, I'm finally moved to ask...

...what's that bottom picture a picture of, Sally?

Looks familiar, though, not...
 
It's an axolotl. His name's Dangerous Beans and he's one of the Cocktail Bar's familiars.
 
Hum...

...don't explain why it seems so familiar...

Don't know what's goin' on up here *tap head*...
 
Crikey.

You'd need more than a rolled up newspaper to swat these things...:eek!!!!:
 
I saw a massive wasp thing when I was young, it was about 8cm long with a huge yellow stinger and made an awful racket when it flew. Then I saw one again in an insect display in a museum, I think it was some kind of hornet but I forget the name. Me and my friends were terrified to go out into the garden, it hung around for ages and even seemed to go for people if they disturbed it. haven't seen one since.
 
Definitely sounds like a Larch or Wood Wasp to me. Those suckers get big and I remember reading a tale about them being found in a local coal mine once. The miners thought that them 'wamps' were hatching out of the coal but really they were coming out of the wooden pit props imported from Germany.:D
 
Filthy le Dog said:
Crikey.

You'd need more than a rolled up newspaper to swat these things...:eek!!!!:
Click to expand...

An anti-aircraft gun, possibly.
 
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