dorishaslop

Hi all again,,,,

I was out in the garden last week and I heard the loudest buzz ever, looked up and saw an enormous black and yellow insect... I honestly have never seen anything so big in my life, definitely not a wasp or bee or hornet... it was probably best part of three or four inches long and very fat looking.. I asked around and no one had any idea what I was talking about, then lo and behold I was pottering about again today with the chickens... (yes I've inherited chickens) lol.... and another one flew by... just as large and just as loud and mean looking... anyone got any idea what it might be??? scared me silly,,

Bri and Katee

Possibly a dragonfly as opposed to a cranefly which everyone in the UK calls a dragonfly.

They are about that size make a noise like slow running motorcycle engine and fly back and forward in irregular patterns. They are not dangerous, just looking for somewhere to lay eggs-check any still water or pools nearby for waterboatmen. This is the larval stage of them, a large black beetle in the water that appears to have to oars attached, hence the name.

Fred James

But no way does a Dragonfly look fat.

two tubes of toothpaste

Mammoth Wasp from Spain - What's That Bug?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mammoth_wasp
Nice thing about it (!?), is that it is the enemy of the rhinocerous beetle what et my palm tree and many others in Spain.

On the basis that my enemy's enemy is my friend, try really hard not to kill it.

bobd22

Or like a crane fly which to me is a daddy long legs

tim1963

My money is on a Cicada. Quite scary when you see one up close - huge eyes - but relatively benign.

Fredbargate

Was it one of these ?

Record-Breaking Giant Bird Dwarfs Albatross

raddickle

possibly a 'black and yellow mud dauber' , the common name for the sphecid wasp. They can look pretty scary but rarely sting.

dorishaslop

Thanks for all the replies.... Looking at the pics I think it may possibly have been the mammoth wasp, it probably was about two or three inches long... so I reckon that's it... but no I wouldn't kill one,,, I'm too busy running in the opposite direction.. xx

Bri and Katee

Doris Haslop take a look at a previous post--number 18 was it one of these?

http://britishexpats.com/forum/spain...-826889/page2/

Fred James

Could be - they look nasty.

dorishaslop

No Bri... saw another one today... definitely the mammoth wasp... and still as scary xx

Jerseygirl

Could it be a Cicada Killer Wasp? They are pretty big...they paralyze cicadas and then fly back to their nest carrying the huge bug.

Edit: It could be a carpenter bee. They are huge and fat. The male guards the nest...they often fly very close to you hoping to scare you away from the nest. They rely on their size to do this as the males do not sting.

Fred James

One of my cats does that. He is big and stripey so he matches those criteria

The first time he did it, he had it in his closed mouth - he was making a very odd noise!

Jerseygirl