Giant Mutant wasps?

Article

That's kinda freaky. A wasp the size of bird. Just imagine the sting one of those would give you, let alone a whole swarm of them!

Huge insects destroy 40 foot tree



Wednesday, September 24, 2003


By JACK HUMMEL
Staff Writer

MILLVILLE -- What's 9 or 10 inches long with the wing span of a small bird and bores six to 10 holes in a straight line in a tree?

That's what Janet Hanson wants to know.


And even though the Carmel Road resident made a couple dozen phone calls Tuesday afternoon, she still doesn't know.

"I think they're some kind of mutant wasps,'' said Hanson after the 40-foot tree on her property fell down and revealed the creatures.

"I've never seen anything like them,'' she whooshed. "I've been on this farm for 43 years and the leaves on this tree were flourishing in July and something killed it.''

But what?

"Their tails open up like a fan,'' said Hanson. "Their bodies are 5 or 6 inches long and the tail that looks like a stinger is just as long.''

And then there's the mother of them all.

"It must be the queen,'' said Hanson. "It's black and it's the biggest of them all.''

Hanson's sister from across the street called her to tell the tree was down at 2:45 Tuesday afternoon.

She went out and discovered the huge bugs and immediately starting making phone calls.

"The first person from the county health department said it was my tree and my problem,'' said Hanson.

The second one told her to go out and spray them.

"Spray them!'' gasped Hanson. "I don't even know what they are. I'm 50 years old and applying for disability. I'm not able to do that.''

Then they told her to catch one, put it in a jar and they recommended a local biologist who could take a look at it.

A neighbor actually went out with a jar and captured one.

"But the biologist had already left,'' said Hanson. "So I'll take it in (this morning).''

They also asked her to take pictures.

"I'll do better than that,'' said her son, Christopher. "I'll videotape 'em.''

And that's where it stands.

The mystery, not the tree.

Like she told the health department, "Lady, it's a 30- or 40-foot healthy tree that has been destroyed by something that I don't even know what they are.''

any links to the video. thats would be some crazy #
if it turns out to be true. but i want proof

WOW!!! Can't wait to see pictures of these. I have a strange interest in wasps ever since I found a couple of southern wingless wasps in Connecticut a few years ago. (They are NOT supposed to live here).

These stories are supposed to be reported in the Weekly World News from somewhere in South America. New Jersey is too close to home!

Pics would help.
I just destroyed a wasp nest in my backyard 3 days ago.
Deep

Now imagine a wasp nest the size of a city bus

The "Aliens" are invading!!!! Run for the hills before you get stung!!!!!
AAAAAHHHHHHH

Man, taking out a wasp nest is hard work.

I filled a bucket with, bleech, soap, motor oil, oxi dish detergent, paint thinner, mixed it around a bit.

The wasps nests was under a shed that we had taked down.
Dumped the whole bucket on it, ran off, then came back with a hose and hosed the nest down.
My cousin got stung by one and my dog ran away.
Stupid Dog, its a Doberman/German shepard mix. You think it would have stayed to fight by my side.
Deep

Cicada Killer Wasps are the largest wasps in North America...but they are only up to 2 inches and usually nest in the ground...

there are some very large insects in the world....

it would be hard to mistake a wasp/bee/dauber/yellowjacket/etc/etc... for any other type of insect.

9 or 10 inches? that is HUGE for a "wasp-like" insect ...

[Edited on 21-10-2003 by Creepy]

Wow. I'd love to see pictures of that.

This is taken from www.nj.com.../base/news-1/1064492722288140.xml

Big isn't so bad



Thursday, September 25, 2003


By MATTHEW RALPH
Staff Writer

MILLVILLE -- The large wasps that bore holes through a tree on Carmel Road most likely did not cause the 40-foot tree to fall, an agriculture agent at Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Cumberland County said Wednesday.

The wasps do not pose a health risk to humans, but are still capable of leaving a painful sting, he said.


Though he is waiting on confirmation from an entomologist that a sample brought into the extension office by Janet Hanson is in fact an ichneumon or parasitic wasp, Extension Department Head James Johnson said he believes the wasps appear to be members of the ichneumon.

"There are a thousand or more types of ichneumon wasps, so we brought the sample to an entomologist in order to identify specifically what type it is," Johnson said.

"They are more of a nuisance than they are a problem," Johnson said.

Hanson first noticed the wasps after the tree on her Carmel Road property fell. She was immediately concerned when she spotted the wasps because of their size.

"They are scary," she said. "I've never seen anything like them and I'm concerned with my grandchildren going near them. I'm also concerned about what they might do to the other trees on my property."

Hanson made several phone calls to local agencies Tuesday but was unable to find immediate answers to her questions.

The only advice given to her was to spray, but she held off on acting before knowing what it was she was dealing with.

Turns out, she did the right thing.

"We always recommend to find out what the problem is before you go out and start spraying," Johnson said, noting that if the wasps are indeed parasitic or beneficial insects as they are also called, spraying will not be recommended.

"They won't be around for very long," he said. "They don't live that long as adults."

Wasps like this are fairly common in the region, but usually don't grow to the size of those Hanson discovered in her yard, Johnson said.

The sample taken to Johnson Wednesday had a body more than an inch long and was close to five inches long when including the antennae and long ovipositor.

The ovipositors are used to penetrate wood and lay the eggs, which then feed on a host insect.

Though the long ovipositors leave deep borings in the trees, Johnson said the wasps did not cause the tree to fall.

"I don't believe in this case the wasps had anything to do with this tree falling down." he said.

Still, Hanson is puzzled how a tree she said was flourishing in July suddenly died and is now the victim of stormy weather.

"The tree was fine in July," she said. "I really never even thought to notice that the tree was bare because I haven't mowed the grass in a while."

The sample taken to Johnson Wednesday had a body more than an inch long and was close to five inches long when including the antennae and long ovipositor.

alot smaller than the nine or ten inches that was first reported...

...there are over 8,000 species of ichneumon in North America...here are a few examples of the larger ones







[Edited on 27-9-2003 by Creepy]

Wow
They're almost as bad as the Japanese giant killer hornets.
They're responsible for the deaths of 40 to 70 Japanese each year.

Japanese athletes also drink a similar version of the juice that the hornets drink to give them energy.

TOKYO -- WHEN Naoko Takahashi flew to a record-breaking victory in the women's Olympic marathon in Sydney, Australia, last September, she had the power of tiny wings working for her. Miss Takahashi, like many Japanese long-distance runners, is a devotee of a little-known drink that its proponents believe may revolutionize sports requiring endurance and rigorous training. Sold here under the brand name Vaam, the concoction contains a synthetic version of the juice that gives Japan's giant hornets the strength to fly distances of about 60 miles a day at speeds of almost 25 miles an hour.



source link:
forum.insecthobbyist.com...
www.vaam-energy.com...
news.nationalgeographic.com... rnets.html
www.abcnews.go.com... html
news.bbc.co.uk... 4871.stm
www.muenster.org...

[Edited on 9-26-2003 by steerpike]

I saw a video of those japanese hornets once. Man those things are huge too!!!
It's really crazy, they said the only a couple of them could kill an entire normal wasp nest. And they showed how the hornest eated normal bees or wasp like easily, and they were approximatly 3 or 4 times bigger than normal bees.

Actually japanese hornets can get to the size of a small bird(sparrow,robin)and thats huge for a hornet! Just think a Two inch Stinger coming to get you!

reply to post by Creepy


while at a baseball field in somerspoint Nj i saw some kind of bee similar to the description and was amazed at the size of them. these made large uprising mounds of dirt that appeared to push out of the ground. they were about 6-10 long. i thought of the cicada killer but theyre much smaller, i also found some of those in the area aswelldu