Giant Black Wasp!

Hi all,

Just got through reading some of the thread about a giant fly, which brought back a
memory about a time that I saw what I still think is the largest insect that I have ever
seen, personally.

I used to work in construction in Marin County (Northern California), remodel to be
exact. One clear, summer day, a co-worker and I were on our lunch break in the
customer's back yard of a kitchen remodel. We were just sitting there talking about
nothing, when I heard this strange buzzing sound. As it got louder, I could see this
thing zoom into the area that we were having lunch, and it landed on the patch of
lawn next to us. Well, this thing that landed looked like a wasp, but it was shiny black,
had translucent reddish orange wings, and was by me and "Joe's" guess, was about
5 to 5.5 inches long! As big as some of the birds in the area! When on the ground, it's
wings would twitch in unison with it's jerky movements. It landed, twitched around for
about 5 seconds, then buzzed off somewhere. "Joe" and I looked at each other and
did one of those "did you see that too" looks to one another, then we went inside to
finish out the day. But the conversation was mostly about what that might have been.

I still do not know what it was that I/we saw that day, but I have'nt seen anything like
it since. I can't imagine what a sting would feel like from one of those things.

Has anyone out there seen an insect like this before?


Peace,

MS

Nothing other than a carpenter bee. But carpenter bees are only an inch or so long and don't look like wasps. I've seen skinny black wasps that were maybe an inch and a half long but not 5. Could have been a freek genetic mutation in one individuel wasp perhaps. ALthough as a kid I swear i saw looking out the window of my grandparents house in the Los Angeles Hills a locust or grass hopper that looked to be about 5 to 6 inches long once.

I know there is a giant Asiatic wasp that is about 5 times larger than a honey bee, but that is about the largest that I believe is around, and those are predominantly in Asia, though I could see some getting possibly shipped over into the west coast.

Could you by any chance have seen an ichneumon fly? Those are kinda large looking. I was thinking maybe you were describing a cicada killer at first, but those have yellow stripes, but they get pretty large.

You have no picture to help with the description, I take it?

How 'bout the Tarantula Hawk, it's coloring matches your description though it does not reach more than two inches. The TH in the video looks larger than 2 inches imo, so there might be exceptions as to size.

Tarantula Hawk – it has a wide range, California included.

one.revver.com:9000...

Scroll down the page to Tarantula Hawks, there are variations that do range into N. Calif.
www.entomology.ucr.edu...

www.nps.gov...

STM

[edit on 8/24/2007 by seentoomuch]

Could it have been either a damsel fly or a dragon fly (whichever of the two is bigger, can't remember which species is larger at moment)? they can get to about 5 inches... But they have two big round eyes and a long body/tail though... You should have whacked it, and kept it.... Might have tasted like chicken...


On a second thought, maybe it was someone's exotic pet that got away from them... Research some large insects from the amazon or africa or somewhere...

reply to post by seentoomuch


Thanks guys. I think that Seentoomuch nailed it. Just seeing that video sorta gave me
the creeps. I still remember the one I saw being bigger than the one in the vid, but
you know how things go...When you think back, it always seemed bigger than it may
have acctually been. Although I think our guesstimates were pretty close.

Thanks, again.


Peace,

MS

I live in the UK and remember years ago how my friend got slightly traumatised by the sight of a Wood Wasp. He thought he was being attacked by a helicopter, it was that big, lol. I still haven't seen one but know if I did I wouldn't forget it in a hurry.Just found this pic of a tarantula hawk. I think I'd die of fright if one of these got caught in my hair.

[edit on 25-8-2007 by wigit]

Yesterday as I searched I came across a diary of a woman who is keeping a Tarantula Hawk as a pet in her kitchen. Going back now I can't find it again, but here is what she basically said:

The first day the wasp flew at her face every time she entered the kitchen. Luckily she avoided a sting. She set out a small plate with dogfood juice and sugar water for it. It eventually went to it.

The next day same thing, it flew at her face trying to run her out of the kitchen. She got by it and refilled the plate with fresh dogfood juice and sugar water.

This continued for a week or more. The wasp was very agressive toward her. (Lol, it's a wasp, what is this lady thinking?) Anyhow after a week or so it stopped attacking her when she entered the kitchen and would wait for her to fill it's plate.

So now she has a non-agressive pet Tarantula Hawk in her kitchen. She must have a major phobia of Tarantula spiders to keep one of these puppies around.

Also found that the females do reach up to 3 1/2 inches. Stinger length: 1/2".

STM

Wow how amazing.... I'm a big fan of dragonflies but this thing is quite cool too. My partner just told me they lay their eggs in tarantulas. Thanks for the amazing picture and videos.

Juliet

Wow that tarantula hawk wasp is massive. Great find seentomuch. I would hate to come across one of those, though they rarely bite humans, I wouldn't want to be the exception.

All this wasp talk reminded me of a national geographic special I saw about Japanese/Asian giant hornets. I found a site link if anyone is intertested.www.worsleyschool.net...

I believe what you saw could have been Cicada killers. I used to be a chemical applicator for a landscaper. One day a got called to a house for a wasp problem. when I got there I was shocked at what I saw, I saw hundreds of these giants wasps flying around. I measured a few that I captured over 2 inches. Some were bigger than others. I sprayed more than 30 nests on the customers property. They don't bother humans, no stinging or anything. If you google Cicada Killers you can see somedecent pitures.

ohioline.osu.edu...

[edit on 31-8-2007 by efbeenie]

If it was a tarantula hawk, you best be thankful it did'nt sting you. Apparently they sting like a rusty hypodermic.

I live in Louisiana and we have the Cicada killer wasps in our yard from time to time. Last year being that it was the 17 year 'bloom' I think for the Cicadas. I killed 2 of them and the big one was almost 3.5 inches long and the 'little' one was like 2. Not the 5 inches you saw but could be the same critter perhaps. I thought they were hummingbirds flying around the back yard.

Originally posted by ShadeWolf
If it was a tarantula hawk, you best be thankful it did'nt sting you. Apparently they sting like a rusty hypodermic.

I was wondering what a sting from one of those would do to a person! I for one, as someone who's allergic to bee's (not deathly) would freak out if saw that thing near me! I know all too well what kind of a headache a sting will cause me. I wonder how much more volume in poison is delivered to a person as compared to say a normal sized bee? I don't have time to dig into that.

That picture gives me the creeps and makes me think of that Hitchcock movie "the Birds"

I live in Connecticut and as far as I know are somewhat rare up here. I was walking with them and through their hordes and they never touched an inch of me. It was an awesome sight!

Originally posted by Hendu
I live in Louisiana and we have the Cicada killer wasps in our yard from time to time. Last year being that it was the 17 year 'bloom' I think for the Cicadas. I killed 2 of them and the big one was almost 3.5 inches long and the 'little' one was like 2. Not the 5 inches you saw but could be the same critter perhaps. I thought they were hummingbirds flying around the back yard.

Originally posted by wigit
I live in the UK and remember years ago how my friend got slightly traumatised by the sight of a Wood Wasp. He thought he was being attacked by a helicopter, it was that big, lol. I still haven't seen one but know if I did I wouldn't forget it in a hurry.Just found this pic of a tarantula hawk. I think I'd die of fright if one of these got caught in my hair.

[edit on 25-8-2007 by wigit]

man , ITS HUGE

these things are massive

Just thought I'd mention, there's a spider the size of a mouse under my bed. I saw it this morning when I lifted my laundry off the floor. It ran under my bedside drawer and didn't come out. HELP

Originally posted by wigit
Just thought I'd mention, there's a spider the size of a mouse under my bed. I saw it this morning when I lifted my laundry off the floor. It ran under my bedside drawer and didn't come out. HELP

advice, run! ... or get the vacuum cleaner and try to suck it up... hate spiders

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