Big Ugly Wasp! can anyone ID it?

[chris]

Hi all,

today while sitting watch the birds, this great big thing flew past me into the aviary mesh. at first i thought it was a dragonfly, but then realised it was a huge wasp!!!! i tried to catch it alive by placing a plastic tank over it and sliding a sheet of paper behind it, but silly me didn't realise it would just slip through the aviary mesh making things worse:neutral: . i then ran into the aviary for fear of it stinging one of the birds (if you saw the size of this thing you'd be damn scared) being unable to catch it where it was perched i wacked it with a plank of wood:lol: which stunned it, then before i had a chance to throw it into a tub the bloomin CPQ came runnin thinking it was feeding time, saw this great big bug and ran off with it. i then had to chase the CPQ around to get it back which i did in the end, but they pretty much killed it by the time i got it back.

anyway, now it's preseved in some alcohol in my room until i go back to college to ID it. the thing is a whopping 2 inches long!!!!! with a sting thats pretty darn big and another sting that's half an inch long:shock: . i reckon that the smaller is used to paralyse prey and the larger to inject eggs into the victim like most parasitic wasps do. the body is yellow and black striped. bright yellow legs, and black and yellow head.

i'll get some photo's up tommorrow, this thing is either something i haven't seen before or it simply isn't native to the country. i can't find anything on the internet that resembles it and it looks nothing like the native wasps i've seen before now. i just hope i and the CPQ haven't just killed a rare species, but moreso an alien invader

all in all, a very unusual day..........

Chris:roll:

[PAUL HEARN]

G'day mate,

I reckon you have had an introduction to a Hornet, if not then the Wasps nest from your local Nuclear Power Station has been disturbed.:grin:

Paul.:wink:

[chris]

Hi paul,

i've seen hornets and this thing is bigger and scarier. the major difference is that hornets don't have a hyperdermic needle for a sting:-| , as you've said, it could be a freak from the nuclear power station. but even then it's a good fly up from wales.

Chris:?

[kenny]

hi chris,this is a picture of a giant wood wasp or sawfly wich is native to england 30mm long


ken
http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=76&stc=1

[kenny]

just remember though where there is one there will be another,get your quail some knives and forks mate.


ken

[jimmy]

Hi Chris,

Might be the one in the picture below chris, was taken at a yorkshire village fete. :) http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=77&stc=1

[jimmy]

Hi Chris,

Spotted this one in next doors garden tonight. :razz:

http://www.feathered-friends.co.uk/vb/attachment.php?attachmentid=78&stc=1

[Waxbillman]

hello Chris,

sounds interesting does that, i can't wait to see the picture.

and jimmy as for that pictures i always wondered how you essex lot was created to irretating, its a cross between a yank and a wasp, lol, i see 2 annoying creatures make one very annoying creature, they call it the essex beast. lol.

matthew

[kenny]

hi jimmy

highly hilarious mate they might be in yorkshire gardens and fetes now but they flew all the way down from essex where one is called sharon and the other tracy,funny thing is i cant see the white high heels on them were their feet sore mate.:grin:

ken

[chris]

Hi kenny,

it's the giant wood wasp/sawfly in the first photo. ah well, i was hopin i'd caught a freak or at least something that isn't native. i dunno about 30mm long tho, this thing is bigger! anyway, photo time:grin:

Chris:wink:

[chris]

Horntail or Wood Wasp - Urocerus gigasDescription. Female 40-60 mm long, body colour black and yellow. Male slightly smaller and lacking the ovipositor or 'tail' of the female, and also the black band on the abdomen.

Biology. Mainly in and around coniferous woodland. The female uses her stout ovipositor to drill into pines and other conifers (usually selecting unhealthy trees) in order to lay her eggs. The legless larvae or grubs spend their time tunnelling and feeding in the timber. Larval development may take several years and larvae can survive even after trees have been felled and cut to make floorboards and rafters. Adults emerging from cut timber sometimes cause great alarm when they appear in or around new houses and other buildings. The 'tail' of the female is often mistaken for a sting, but the insects cannot sting and are quite harmless.

Distribution. British Isles and most of Europe.

Photo: S. Nicholson ©

http://www2002.stoke.gov.uk/museums/pmag/Nof_website1/species/creepy_crawlies/other/other_images/horntail01pmag.jpg

[chris]

just remember though where there is one there will be another,get your quail some knives and forks mate.


ken

that's just what i wanted to know, now i can expect MORE of these beasty things:neutral: , ah well, now i've just found out that they ae infact harmless and don't have a sting! what made me think there were 2 stings was the sharp point on the abdomen, and the ovipositor (although to be fair i did realise the long one was an ovipositor:grin: )

i think i may know what attracted it to the aviary, apparently they lay there eggs in Pine trees. i reckon those bark chippings i've thrown down on the aviary floor could well be Pine which would explain why it was trying to get in. either that or it may actually have come in one of the bark chipping bags as a pupae and hatched out a a few days ago.

at least i haven't got to be worried about catching them from now on

Chris:wink:

[kenny]

that will be where they come from and the heat from the weather will have hatched out what was in there if it has laid any eggs you will just get some more unless the quail have seen them off already

ken

[bigal47]

Hi one and all
Hi Jimmy
Wasn't that bee on your pics a Humble Bumble Cornish Bee the type that produces the larger bottles of king size honey that we ship to Yorshire to help sweeten some of the locals. :) Did you take the pics on your holidays as you were not far from Karl's place if it is the St Austell bee.
Allan