Mutant Yellowjackets being introduced?

This happened back in August...my 3rd unprovoked sting by a yellowjacket in a month prompted me to post this (none of these stings were by unusual bees but they were COMPLETELY unprovoked stings)...

Anyway, I was at work in my hometown (Ithaca, NY) 2 months ago...(I go to college in Pittsburgh) - somebody came into my work (a restaurant) and said there was a "strange bee" dead under their car. I initially brushed it off but he kept imploring me to check it out, as it was one of the weirdest things he'd ever seen...

So, I came outside and what I saw astonished me. The bee looked like the normal yellowjackets you see on a daily basis - yet it was literally 3 times bigger and looked absolutely monstrous.

The damn thing had HUGE red eyes and, as I remember - thicker black stripes than your typical yellowjackets. This thing was FAT...and had a HUGE stinger...

I have lived in the coastal south for much of my life and I have NEVER seen anything like this. And I have yet to find a reasonable explanation...I wanted to get a picture but couldn't.

Anyway, with Cornell University we have one of the top scientific research universities in the nation in my hometown....could this thing have been engineered? Possibly as a means of biological warfare? I am mildly allergic to bees so the prospect of killer bees being engineered and released is terrifying, to say the least.

Anyone see anything like this?

I could be wrong but it sounds like a hornet. BTW over the past several years I have noticed very agressive yellowjackets. There was a person killed in Indiana recently that received a thousand stings when he accidentally disturbed a nest. The report said they were European Yellowjackets.

Originally posted by Indy
I could be wrong but it sounds like a hornet. BTW over the past several years I have noticed very agressive yellowjackets. There was a person killed in Indiana recently that received a thousand stings when he accidentally disturbed a nest. The report said they were European Yellowjackets.

What differentiates a hornet from a yellowjacket? Are hornets more aggressive/dangerous? A scary thought...I have a paralyzing fear of bees/wasps/hornets and the thought of the bee I described stinging me is horrifying to me. I mean, I'm willing to buy your explanation but keep in mind I've lived in the subtropical south - I observed this in the northern U.S. and I've NEVER seen anything like it...

And I've read the same report you mentioned about the guy receiving 1,000 stings...this is scary to me because I am mildly allergic (one sting from a yellowjacket results in severe nausea, light-headedness and dizziness for several hours). I mean, I've almost wrecked my car due to yellowjackets getting in...I don't even know how I'd avoid accidentally disturbing a nest...they are even more prolific during the fall months when they tend to try to sneak indoors in anticipation of winter.

Geez, this gives me the creeps

i live in northeast ga and i have seen the bee you describe about once every year.it is a hidious sight for sure,dont know what they are called,my mother calls them chinese hornets and another time a friend called it a chinese bumblebee. I have seen them since i was a kid but on rare occassions only,never seen 2 of them at once.

Originally posted by Paranoid Freak
...I don't even know how I'd avoid accidentally disturbing a nest...

Simple enough. Don't go anywhere, but don't stay in one place.

If you combine that with not going outside, but not staying indoors, you should be okay.

It seems that yellowjackets and hornets are aggressive unlike all the other wasps, bees, etc. Yellowjackets really will just come after you for meanness I think. I have never been stung by any other than a bee and two different yellowjackets.

I had it coming from the bee...I sat on him. lol But both times the yellowjackets just came and found me and stung me. And they hurt!

But I don't think there's any mutating going on, I bet it was a hornet.

At least here in Finland we had more wasps as normally at this summer.
Also they were much more intrusive than normally. (guess they were angry about constant rains)

I think I got couple stings from them this summer, althought I didn't notice stings itself. One from which I'm pretty sure was just month ago.
I just wondered why leg started to itch about ten cm under the knee (just above boot's leg) and noticed small red dot. Next morning there was 0,5 cm high bumb in same point which disappeared before afternoon and started to itch much more. Same time it changed to nice dark red (+little blue like in bruise) blot which stayed half week. There isn't much candidates because mosquito can't cause that and horsefly's bite can't go unnoticed.



en.wikipedia.org...
en.wikipedia.org...
www.ipmofalaska.com...
www.uky.edu...


Then there's this "killerbee" problem which, surprise, surprise was caused by man.
www.si.edu...
www.factmonster.com...

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. - Entomologists at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville say a rare breed of hornet known as the European hornet is breeding for the first time in northwest Arkansas.



Jeffrey Barnes, curator of the Arthropod Museum at the university, said he has been collecting stories from people who have seen the rare hornet, which can grow up to 1 1/2 inches long, much larger than the more common yellow jacket breed.


"People working in orchards have been getting dive-bombed by these things," Barnes said. "In the past couple of weeks, I've gotten dozens of interesting stories."

news.yahoo.com.../ap/20041008/ap_on_sc/rare_hornets_1

The first time I saw one of these things was about six years ago...lol scary as hell. I've seen a bunch of dead ones so I've been able to closely examine one.... they look exactly like you described. The first time I saw one I thought it was a mutant as well... but I had someone insist that these are Cicada Killer Wasps.

www.saltthesandbox.org...

Now, while these things are a pretty close(slightly) match to what I've seen... this is not the insect I saw. Hmm...

Now I really want to know what these things are.

Edit: I live in NY btw.



[edit on 9-10-2004 by God]

I would suggest looking into japanese hornets/wasps.There is a type from japan that can get as large as 2 inches in size with a 3 inch wingspan, and when a "threat" is in the area, that threat is sprayed with a pheramone(spelling?) alerting the rest of the hive to attack.They also have the second highest pain rating for thier sting(they do not lose the stinger after getting you, making them very,very dangerous).
Another type of wasp/hornet that may be of interest is what locals in my town(southern Texas) call a spider hawk. Its about 1-2 inches in size.And it can kill Turantula's and small birds with its toxin.This one also retains the stinger after the bite.Only to lay eggs in the prey, which eat themselves out when they hatch.These "spider hawks" do attack people too.
If you are in the US, I think it may be the spider hawk, as it could migrate north through Texas and further north, climate permitting of course.Maybe just more proof of global warming,as things rarely migrate out of a climate that is aready good.
Here is a link on the japanese kind from NationalGeographic:
news.nationalgeographic.com... rnets.html

Notene japanese hornet can kill 40 european honey bees in one minute...BY itself!!!

[edit on 9-10-2004 by LordBaskettIV]

lol i dont mean to sound overly dumb here but what exactly is a yellow jacket? Like a bee or something??

I live in Louisville Kentucky and I see them every summer. I dont know what kind of wasp or bee they are, but they were really bad around here this year as we have an event of locust every 17 years and that was this year. (More food source). These things are ground dwellers, and will attack any insect, including cicadas. They make a low, deep, buzzing sound when they fly. Ive never been attacked by one though. They seem not to care for things that much bigger than them

Kidfinger, have you been lucky enough to watch it kill another bug? as most of the hornets/wasps kill thier prey in a very specific manner.The japanese type "beheads" all its prey, and then harvet the dead bodies.The giant hornet is belived to be the only kind that beheads prey.So if it does, it may be related or the same.Or even a man made offshoot(like an africanized bee).

Ive seen it attack the locus/cicada, grass hoppers, carpenter bees, dragon fly's, and a few other things. If its a flying insect, it divebombs it in mid airand knocks it to the groud stinging it repeatedly. If its a ground insect, it just lands on top of it and stings continously. After its prey is subdued, if its to big to fly with, it will drag its victom to its hole where I presume its eaten. If it can fly, well, it flies away with its prey.

Kidfinger,if it has long backlegs I would say its a type of spider hawk, as they dive bomb prey,can grow to 2 inches, and act the way you have described(dragging victims away).
Otherwise its most likely the Eroupean Hornet.


"The European hornet first appeared in the eastern United States about 1850. This hornet is reddish brown streaked with yellow and attains a length of more than 2.5 cm (1 in). Its brown nest is built in hollow trees, in rock crevices, or on human structures. Like the smaller hornet species, it eats insects and their larvae and ripe fruit."

But, they have been known in the eastern states from the 1850's, and the first poster is from the eastern US.If you live there for awhile(or for your whole life) you think they would be aware of these Giant types of wasps.If its not the cicada or european, or spider hawk, send a dead one to a school or university for clasification.If it is japanese it might be the first recorded sighting.

Ive seen them about as big as three inches. Thier body is a dark reddish brown with dark yellow stripes. Acts like a spider hawk, but much bigger! I dont know what they are, Ive seen them my whole life, and Im 32 now, so they have been here for a while.

Is this what you ment by a spider hawk?
www.desertusa.com...

They are calling them turantula hawks. I did a search for spider hawk to make sure, and didnt find anything. If this is what you ment, then what Ive seen is definately not it. What ive seen has an abdoman the size of my thumb. Just so you know, I wear a size 11 on my ring finger, so my thumb is a little bigger.

Kidfinger, you're right turantula hawk is the right term(spider hawk is what the locals call it because of the way it hunts I guess).I have not seen one with redish stripes though.I think its plausable that its the european giant hornet, according to all the evidence provided.Although, if you get a chance next time you see an attack by one, inspect the "killing grounds" after it takes the prey off to eat. If the preys head is left behind, at the spot of killing(after the stinging) it is a japanese giant hornet.If it is, that would be a neat find, as it would mean that they migrated over on ships from japan.Just as the european kind.(Note:The japanese kind is reletively larger than the european, and is considered far more violent.)I saw in one artical provided above, claims of feild workers being attacked for "no reason" which makes me wonder a bit, as the european is considered docile(for hornets that is).Thier may be both, only they just credit the accounts to the european hornet becuase of no physical hornet bodies to examine(as they were just oral accounts of the attack).Which may be another reason for the hornets some are seeing, and saying they dont look like the provided pics of euro-cicada eaters.

as the threadstarter said ,it has huge red eyes.I have yet to find a picture of one on the web with the huge red eyes,thats what makes this thing look so demonic and thats why i have remembered seeing it,can anyone out there find a big 1-2" hairy bee yellow with black stripes with red eyes,i have searched for hours and not found a pic.

The first is a european giant, the second is a japanese giant.I also forgot the japanese one has a venom that melts flesh sooo.....maybe not the one that stung you.The first HAS red eyes.

1. www.freewebs.com...

2. www.freewebs.com...


[edit on 10-10-2004 by LordBaskettIV]

[edit on 10-10-2004 by MacKiller]