# The assassin



## jriepe (Feb 22, 2012)

This past Fall while visiting my parents I took these pictures through their kitchen window.  Don't know what this insect is called but the first image is of him sitting on the hummingbird feeder.  The second image is of him attacking a yellow jacket.  He bit the yellow jacket in half and dropped it to the ground.

Jerry


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## Overread (Feb 22, 2012)

Looks very much like a hornet - you can normally tell them from many other bugs because they make a darned powerful thrumming buzz when flying. They also pack a pretty strong sting in them as well. 

Nice profile shot and also good hunting shot as well! Background is a little distracting (what with being the red feeder) but considering that you couldn't change it well done.


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## sm4him (Feb 22, 2012)

In the first photo, I just thought..."hmmm, yeah, interesting stinging insect of some sort. Hornet maybe."

In the second photo, I thought, "HOLY MOLY!!! Look at how tiny that yellow jacket looks compared to that thing!!" I think I've shot some birds lately that weren't that big!


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## Infinite_Day (Feb 22, 2012)

How big was it? I was tempted to say it might be a cicada killer but comparison makes me think the thorax is not correct.

Edit: Further research makes me think it's _Vespa crabro _- the European Hornet.


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## jriepe (Feb 22, 2012)

Infinite,

Cicada killer was my first thought also but I looked that up and they look more like wasps than bees. To me it looks somewhat like a cross between a wasp and bee.  I just remembered something.  I didn't shoot this through their window.  I raised the window to get a good shot and told my sister to stand guard to be sure none of these flew into the house while I got set up.  Her reply was "Yeah, Right!" I Think she thought I was nuts.  Oh yeah you asked the size of it and I can't give you a measurement but you can judge somewhat by comparing it to the size of the yellow jacket.  I would say about the size of a bumblebee or maybe a bit bigger.

Jerry


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## Overread (Feb 22, 2012)

For reference here's a Hornet from the UK
http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4133/4979085939_632174e313_z.jpg
looks pretty much identical and if the European Hornet has made it over to the USA that would explain the similarities.


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## jriepe (Feb 22, 2012)

Overread said:


> For reference here's a Hornet from the UK
> http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4133/4979085939_632174e313_z.jpg
> looks pretty much identical and if the European Hornet has made it over to the USA that would explain the similarities.



Overread,

After some research I do believe you are right that this is a type of hornet.  Another type of hornet builds large nests usually hanging from a tree limb.  I don't have any close ups of them but I do have this.  I run across these nests in the forest preserves and they don't seem to be that aggressive but their body language the last time I shot these gave me pause. 

Jerry


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## orionmystery (Feb 23, 2012)

Nice ones. NO idea it was so big until i saw the 2nd image!


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## jriepe (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks Kurt.  And Sharon sorry I didn't acknowledge your comment earlier but thanks for commenting.  I'm quite sure this hornet or whatever it is could drive a hummingbird away from the feeder.

Jerry


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## Infinite_Day (Feb 23, 2012)

I do believe, from the quick readig that I did, that the European hornet has been introduced to the U.S. so it seems likely that's what it is. Nice captures!


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## jriepe (Feb 23, 2012)

Infinite_Day said:


> I do believe, from the quick readig that I did, that the European hornet has been introduced to the U.S. so it seems likely that's what it is. Nice captures!



Thanks.  I don't do a lot of reading and research on nature's critters so I'm certainly not very knowledgeable in that area.  Come to think of it I don"t know of ANY area I'm very knowledgeable in.  

Jerry


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## Joel_W (Feb 23, 2012)

Two super shots. Picture #2 really is something else. That's one big Hornet.


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## Thunder_o_b (Feb 23, 2012)

Yeah, yellow jackets think they are badUntil a hornet enters the room. Good shots.


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## jriepe (Feb 23, 2012)

Thanks Joel and Thunder.

Jerry


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## robolepa (Feb 23, 2012)

jriepe said:


> Overread said:
> 
> 
> > For reference here's a Hornet from the UK
> ...


jriepe,

I had one of those nests right in a tree right outside my dining room window.  On one pre-dawn morning, I was eating breakfast, and I could hear something hitting the window.  It started out slow - like popcorn beginning to pop - and quickly escalated.  The light in the dining room must have woken up the nest, because there were about 300 of them crawling on the dining room window, trying to get at me.  It still gives me the creeps when I think about it.


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## jriepe (Feb 23, 2012)

Robolepa, you didn't invite them in for breakfast?  That's all they wanted.:greenpbl:  That must have been quite a sight.  A couple days after I took this picture the nest had been totally destroyed by I'm guessing some intoxicated picnic goers.  Hopefully the hornets made them pay for their vandalism.  I heard a story (don't know how true it is) about the owner of a country store who found one of these nests on a bitter cold day and decided it would look neat hanging up in his store.  As the nest started warming the hornets started coming out.  I find this hard to believe because I don't know if they stay in the nest all winter long.

Jerry


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## Overread (Feb 23, 2012)

I'm not sure about how hornets survive through the winter - but certainly if the hive itself was cold and they were still present inside the warmth of the building would indeed warm them up. Hornets (like bees and other bigger bugs) can be totally unable to function in the cold - a cold morning and many can be found stranded unable to respond or do much at all (esp if something like a nightlight lures them in). So you could easily collect a hive whilst the occupants were too sluggish to respond.


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## robolepa (Feb 23, 2012)

Jerry, it was quite a site to say the least, and what was so startling about it was that it completely defied the normal bee/hornet/wasp behavior that overread mentioned.  I'm not sure what the temperature was, but the time was about 4am - well before dawn.  That's why, when they first started hitting the window I thought it was the beginning of a heavy downpour, and didn't even look up at first.  And when I did finally look up, like I said in my prior post, there were hundreds of them covering the dining room window.  And as you can see from the photo, their bodies are black, so all I could really see were the white stripes on their heads and bodies.  *shudder*. I had spotted the nest a few weeks prior, but it was high enough in the tree that I just left it alone.  But when that happened, peaceful coexistence quickly turned into Operation Shock and Awe.


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