Strange looking hornet like creatures
Discussion
Are they not hornets? I saw something very like what you described in my girlfriends garden the other week and she called it a hornet. I hate them, last year in France I was sitting under the grape vine on the pergola by the pool reading a book with my iPod on. I just had my swimming shorts and trainers on when one just fell out of the vine above me and landed on my chest. I put the iPod and book on the table and sat there frozen whilst it walked up and down my chest, into my pocket and back onto my chest where it started wiggling its bum for some reason (my guess it to sting me), I grabbed the book and swatted it off, jumped up and started stamping on it as my little sister comes running out of the house screaming with a huge fly swat and stars mashing it too. Must have been a good few inches long, say 3 or 4x the size of your average wasp
Me and a mate went to Crete last year... we were staying in a 5* luxury hotel, but couldn't help but notice these enormous wasp-like creatures flying at very low level (in a scouting fashion) over the grassy areas outside (of which there were many, intersected by paths). These things were everywhere and were flying around the pool areas where people (including us) were lying around on sun loungers. Over a beer, we were discussing what they could be, so I decided to go and ask a member of staff. I got-up and went over to the (outside) bar and asked the female bar-tender what they were. A look of mild panic came over her face and, in broken English, she asked me if I'd been stung? I said no and she went-on to say that they were very dangerous and that, if we were to be stung, an ambulance would need to be called immediately! I asked a couple of other members of staff over the next day or two and got exactly the same response from them, too! Needless to say, we were then paranoid about these things. A few days later, we saw a small task force of these creatures swoop-down on a cricket and pull it apart. Then, 2 or 3 of the creatures worked in unison, flying-off with various cricket bodyparts!
When I got home, I immediately Googled these things and it seems they were Oriental Hornets. They didn't seem bothered by humans and didn't appear to land on anyone, but why the hell the hotel didn't have some warning signs up, I'll never know!
When I got home, I immediately Googled these things and it seems they were Oriental Hornets. They didn't seem bothered by humans and didn't appear to land on anyone, but why the hell the hotel didn't have some warning signs up, I'll never know!
JonRB said:
PJR said:
So you didn't notice the other 2,251,651 posts in this forum that are about cars, and not random b
ks?
In your 34 months on PH you haven't noticed that The Lounge (and the P&P before it) is precisely *for* random bks?ks? 
deserved though!gothmog said:
Sounds like a genuine hornet - they are much bigger than you expect.
Scary buggers, but not as aggressive as wasps (well at least not in the European flavour
).
Snapped this one in 2005:
I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords. I'd like to remind them that as a trusted TV personality I could be helpful in rounding up others to toil in their underground sugar caves.Scary buggers, but not as aggressive as wasps (well at least not in the European flavour
).Snapped this one in 2005:
(don't I recognise that photo and your name from The DVD Forums btw?)
gothmog said:
Sounds like a genuine hornet - they are much bigger than you expect.
Scary buggers, but not as aggressive as wasps (well at least not in the European flavour ).
Yeah I reckon the same.Scary buggers, but not as aggressive as wasps (well at least not in the European flavour
).I've seen quite a few hornets over here and on the continent, never been bothered by them; even when I did catch one in a jar in France, it didn't like that!
On a sidenote, I know they're not supposed to be aggressive but their sting is and I quote
Masato Ono said:
(an entomologist at Tamagawa University)described the sensation as feeling "like a hot nail being driven into my leg."
Admittedly that was from an otiental hornet, but still!! 
When I lived in South Africa we had a postbox outside with a slot in the front for the letters and a door at the back ,which was kept locked.
One day went to collect the mail out of the box, opened the back and put hand in--jeeeesus it was like some one stabbing a red hot needle in to my finger.
Looked inside as i thought that there must be a spike of some sort sticking out.
Saw a mini hornets nest there.
Never took the mail out without looking inside first in future.
Did I say that it hurt.
A lot.
One day went to collect the mail out of the box, opened the back and put hand in--jeeeesus it was like some one stabbing a red hot needle in to my finger.
Looked inside as i thought that there must be a spike of some sort sticking out.
Saw a mini hornets nest there.
Never took the mail out without looking inside first in future.
Did I say that it hurt.
A lot.
Oriental hornets are brown with a yellow face and strip around the tail area, if they were mostly yellow it is probably japanese hornets, though these look more like giant wasps with black stripes too, they are evil things! A load of them flew over and ended up in europe & england a couple of years ago, there was a massive herd of them in Henley on Thames
see this vid http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japa...
10 Jap hornets vs. 1000 honey bee's, the hornets won!
see this vid http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japa...
10 Jap hornets vs. 1000 honey bee's, the hornets won!
anonymous said:
[redacted]
Golden digger wasp?
ETA don't forget about the harmless Horntail or wood wasp. Very big and have what looks like a huge stinger but infact its for laying eggs but they are useually mostly blacl with orange/yellow legs
Edited by V8A*ndy on Sunday 14th June 20:39
Cas_P said:
Oriental hornets are brown with a yellow face and strip around the tail area, if they were mostly yellow it is probably japanese hornets, though these look more like giant wasps with black stripes too, they are evil things! A load of them flew over and ended up in europe & england a couple of years ago, there was a massive herd of them in Henley on Thames
see this vid http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japa...
10 Jap hornets vs. 1000 honey bee's, the hornets won!
Holycrappbyollox!!see this vid http://www.metacafe.com/watch/206326/10_giant_japa...
10 Jap hornets vs. 1000 honey bee's, the hornets won!
As a kid i had a tree house, the floor was looking alittle rotten so i decide to put a new one on top, i put the new boards down and started hammering nails in (nails that were way too long but the bigger the better and all at)
After about the 5th nail i became surround by what can only be described as some really, really pissed off massive wasps. As i made my swift exit, (Quite hard while 15 ft up) i got stung 4 times by the buzzing bds.
When the guy came to take revenge on my behalf, he said that it was actually a hornet nest, which now had a nail straight through the middle of it.
After about the 5th nail i became surround by what can only be described as some really, really pissed off massive wasps. As i made my swift exit, (Quite hard while 15 ft up) i got stung 4 times by the buzzing b
ds.When the guy came to take revenge on my behalf, he said that it was actually a hornet nest, which now had a nail straight through the middle of it.
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