You wouldn't want yo be stung by this

[Ken L]

The wee fella is a german wasp (Vespula germanica). It would have been cool if you could have got all three species to pose together for a photo.

[chesters1]

even the little critter at the top of the leaf has passed out with fright

[chesters1]

even the little critter at the top of the leaf has passed out with fright

the little wasp is a wood wasp (or german) pretty laid back compared to its larger brothers ,i did a post about a nest in our house a couple of years ago. i got stung just the once brushing one out of my hair .i blocked the hole up once winter came .plenty still about theres a nest somewhere in the roof but weve been unable to find it ,3 now dead ordinary wasp nests too.

Edited October 14, 2008 by chesters1

[billy50000]

i had a young hornet(still damn large)in my bathroom the other week(god knows how he got in,i suspect he may have got in via a roof vent and they may have set up shop in the loft

 

either way hes deadddddddddddd now!

 

il pop up the loft soon and look for evidence of his kin,then il kill them all......

 

cruel as it maybe,but with kids moaning at me to "come and kill this dad" i see it as fair game,they have thier zone outside and mine inside,and if they venture in then its fair game...

 

even the kids have got skilled at using a boot and leaving funny brown patches on the walls for me to repaint!(thankfully not that kinda brown mark)!!

Edited October 14, 2008 by billy50000

[corydoras]

i had a young hornet(still damn large)in my bathroom the other week(god knows how he got in,i suspect he may have got in via a roof vent and they may have set up shop in the loft

 

either way hes deadddddddddddd now!

 

il pop up the loft soon and look for evidence of his kin,then il kill them all......

 

cruel as it maybe,but with kids moaning at me to "come and kill this dad" i see it as fair game,they have thier zone outside and mine inside,and if they venture in then its fair game...

 

even the kids have got skilled at using a boot and leaving funny brown patches on the walls for me to repaint!(thankfully not that kinda brown mark)!!

I don't kill anything for my kids, never have, if they want it dead they can kill it themselves. Now spiders and creepy crawlies don't get killed in our house.

[corydoras]

even the little critter at the top of the leaf has passed out with fright

the little wasp is a wood wasp (or german) pretty laid back compared to its larger brothers ,i did a post about a nest in our house a couple of years ago. i got stung just the once brushing one out of my hair .i blocked the hole up once winter came .plenty still about theres a nest somewhere in the roof but weve been unable to find it ,3 now dead ordinary wasp nests too.

Sorry mate but the little wasp is not a wood wasp (Urocerus gigas) or at least isn't where I come from. The female woodwasp is a pretty scary looking creature, but it is totally harmless. It is not a true wasp either it is a xylophagous sawfly.

[ColinW]

I've got a wasp's nest in the sash box of one of my upstairs windows this year. From what I've read they empty out over winter and don't use the same nest twice, so it can just stay there. I reckon it will improve the insulation! I'll block up the hole when I'm sure they've all gone. Strange that none of them have come into the house via the hole above the pulley wheel?

My dad once got the council round to remove one from inside the roof of his sheds; when they got it out it was the size of a suitcase!

[chesters1]

Sorry mate but the little wasp is not a wood wasp (Urocerus gigas) or at least isn't where I come from. The female woodwasp is a pretty scary looking creature, but it is totally harmless. It is not a true wasp either it is a xylophagous sawfly.

when i said wood i meant tree perhaps (although the german has wood wasp as another name) the little beggers i had in the loft differend from germans one faces so i presume they were tree ones not wood ,we cant see dens one so its "probably" a woody (german) not a tree..eey as they are commoner

 

http://www.uknature.co.uk/D.sylvestris-info.html

 

this says they are aggressive mine were the reverse veeery laid back ,its a pity the pictures gone in my post about them to compare.

wood wasp seems to cover many insects (including yours) but this smaller wasp is common and commonly (perhaps just around here) called a wood wasp perhaps we just cant bring ourselves to admit the germans did invade and are here to stay

Edited October 15, 2008 by chesters1

[corydoras]

when i said wood i meant tree perhaps (although the german has wood wasp as another name) the little beggers i had in the loft differend from germans one faces so i presume they were tree ones not wood ,we cant see dens one so its "probably" a woody (german) not a tree..eey as they are commoner

 

http://www.uknature.co.uk/D.sylvestris-info.html

 

this says they are aggressive mine were the reverse veeery laid back ,its a pity the pictures gone in my post about them to compare.

wood wasp seems to cover many insects (including yours) but this smaller wasp is common and commonly (perhaps just around here) called a wood wasp perhaps we just cant bring ourselves to admit the germans did invade and are here to stay

OK Now I understand, German Wasp, Tree Wasp. I did not know that this existed in the UK so I have learned something new today. In France they are very anal about hornets, les frelons They are notifiable, if you don't report a nest to the authorities you are commiting a crime. When you report a nest they will send out a cyberman to kill them.

 

A mate of mine in the south of France made the mistake of telling the neighbours that he had a family of frelon in his shed. They didn't bother him, he didn't bother them, they are not really aggressive unless you wind them up. He felt a bit like a traitor when the firemen came and killed them.

 

There is a little sand wasp that you get in France (Bembix rostrata). I don't know if we get them but they live in little tunnels in the lawns here. They are a solitary wasp and are not aggressive, but if you annoy them, stick a dry grass stem down their hole for example, they can give you a really sore sting, much worse than your common wasp.

 

If you did learn something new today, it's all in your head.

Edited October 15, 2008 by corydoras

[chesters1]

we pulled out a field of grapes whilst in france (boss had to wait months for permission) and in the process got covered in juice (grapes were ripe) clouds of insects some huge (like hornets but brighter) got bitten several times ,the biter was a tiny tiny fly not all the other brutes