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My back yard is wooded, partially heavily-wooded, and I seem to have these gigantic huge hornets that are attracted to my lights at night. I thought bees and wasps/hornets were still at night. What are these things and are they as scary as they look????

Coral

is there any way you can get a picture or give a little more info like the color

I could try to get a picture but they are really a bit scary.....they actually look like a giant yellow jacket (or ground wasp).

HMM My first thought when I read wooded area and they were large was wood bee also called carpenter bees but they look more like a bumble bee not a wasp

no, these are definitely not anywhere close to that---they are yellow-striped like a yellow jacket but HUGE!!! I may be able to get a picture within a week. If I turn the outside light on while it's dark, there will always be 4 or 5 flying around the light in minutes....I'll see if I can zoom in and get a picture.

that sounds like a giant cacada killer they pray on cacadas or most people around here call them locust not sure why

Sounds alot like a giant hornet.

[img]https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/db/Vespa_crabro_germana_with_prey_Richard_Bartz_Crop.jpg/751px-Vespa_crabro_germana_with_prey_Richard_Bartz_Crop.jpg[/img]

this is exactly what it looks like!! My neighbor just saw one and called it a European Hornet...after researching online it seems the European Hornet only reaches 1-1/4 inches but, unless I'm hysterical, the ones I have look a little larger than that. Is this giant hornet a European Hornet?

Try looking up the "Cicada Killer" too. They're as big as a man's pinky or a woman's thumb. Here's the one that landed with a loud combined buzzing that sounded like a powertool, not 4 feet from my kids the other day. I had no trouble ID'ing it because it was clutching a green cicada.
[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/Image1536.jpg[/img]
[img]https://i290.photobucket.com/albums/ll272/applesbucket/Image1541.jpg[/img]

ok---it's definitely not a cicada killer, but you got a couple of great pictures!! And I had forgotten, but I remember seeing the cicada killers a lot when I was a kid....too many years ago!

Dogpatch318 wrote:this is exactly what it looks like!! My neighbor just saw one and called it a European Hornet...after researching online it seems the European Hornet only reaches 1-1/4 inches but, unless I'm hysterical, the ones I have look a little larger than that. Is this giant hornet a European Hornet?

Its a European hornet, which according to wikipedia gets up to 1.4 or 1 1/2 inches. I swear I've seen bigger though around here. My dad grows apples and they love to get into rotting ones, but mostly they prey on the other insects that eat the apples like yellow jackets, junebettles, japanese beetles, ect. Other then there sting they aren't really bad to have around since they prey on alot of insects that are considered pests.

so they can just scare you to death....at least I don't have to run screaming from them

They evidently have a nest in one of the trees in my woods---I'll have to take notice and stay clear of that!

Dogpatch318 wrote:so they can just scare you to death....at least I don't have to run screaming from them

They evidently have a nest in one of the trees in my woods---I'll have to take notice and stay clear of that!

Yeah they look scary but as long as you don't distrub the nest or step on them they will usually leave you alone.

I have been stung by these (ground hornets). Their venom is designed to mimic extensive tissue trauma in the victim. The stings really hurt.

The process; Wait until well after dark, I saw no bee activity after 9:30pm. They were all in the nest. I dumped about a quart of 'Coleman Camping Fuel' down the hole, lit it and then backed off. I would never use gasoline because of it's explosive properties. The Coleman Fuel burned with good control. After about ten minutes (of burning) I uncoverd a nest larger than a basketball under my flower garden with tens of thousands of dead bees. This process worked very well for me.
Good luck!!!!

In case you hadn't noticed, this is an old thread from last August, last year, but -- why not? -- I thought of something to say

I saw a special on TV a while back -- giant ground hornet grubs are considered a delicacy in parts of Japan -- I could imagine some fanciers just shaking their heads and tsk'ing....

Giant , hovering, LOUD hornets around my log cabin in woods. What are they called? Central Virginia, USA. Are they pollinators? They fit description of Giant Asian Hornets. My husband calls them bell hornets. They look like GIANT yellow jackets -- often see them at least 2" long. They hover right in front of you and sound like a generator or a chain saw, but have never been stung by one because zi seldom panic. They do scare visitors and children. They are not as bright yellow ad yellow jackets or as honey colored as honey bees. Don't see them on cleared areas much,

So much erroneous information!

The Giant European Hornet is definitely a nasty-looking brute & WILL sometimes buzz around outdoor lights at night, although they're most normally encountered during the day. They are NOT ground nesters, nor do they build the large paper nests that other hornets do. They're cavity nesters, & thus nest in dead hollow trees or similarly appropriate man-made structures.

While they do sting & their 2"-3" size scares the living hell out of people (myself included), they are definitely not as aggressive as other hornet types.

They're common here in Virginia, & while I find it creepy to see one fly by carrying a whole grape or other small fruit, & have had the occasional one make its way indoors, so far I haven't had any encounter close enough to warrant pest control.

I have them to. In SC

If the hornets are that big, they could be what is known as an "Asian hornet." They are about an inch and a half or more in size. They are very vicious and the sting will cause the victim's tissue to liquefy in 15 minutes. Be very careful around them.

I have Cicada Killers that visit my garden -- they specialize in using cicadas for their babies' nursery food. So they are HUGE. They buzz around tree branches looking for them. I suspect they target the just emerged cicadas because I often see them around trees where I know the cicadas have been coming out of the root zone.

oops, just now realized we're into 2nd page of this thread and I already mentioned cicada killers

This past spring I was watering my yard when I heard a small like motor behind me when I turned around to see what it was it was a huge yellow jacket it was about an 1 1/2 , 2 to inches long scared the bejeebers out of me just kept flying on minding its own business left me alone, I put my water hose down turned off the water ran in the house couldn't believe what I saw,I'm glad I'm not the only one that seen one so huge

Here is a not so great pic of one. They don't like sitting still to get their photo taken. This guy is a good two inches long, with a body thickness of my chubby pinky.