# Bug people - Tarantula Hawk Wasp vs Asian Giant Hornet - Who wins? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 1, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099 "2013-10-01T15:36:11Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![astro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9dc877/32.png) [@astro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astro)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 3:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/1 "2013-10-01T15:36:11Z")
[This](http://gawker.com/this-hornet-will-be-the-last-thing-you-see-before-you-d-1428724767) vs [this -](http://tucsoncitizen.com/wryheat/2010/07/16/tarantula-hawks-deliver-the-big-sting/) Who wins? ---
**Author:** ![Dorjan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dorjan/32/12440_2.png) [@Dorjan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dorjan)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/2 "2013-10-01T16:46:01Z")
I’ll put my money on teh Giant Asian Hornets. They are bigger, meaner, more likely to attack without provocation, and their venom is highly necrotizing! ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/3 "2013-10-01T16:48:41Z")
What happens if they mate instead of fight? Then you’ve got some real trouble. ---
**Author:** ![shantih](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f6c823/32.png) [@shantih](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shantih)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/4 "2013-10-01T21:45:31Z")
No matter who wins, we all lose. ---
**Author:** ![Strangeland64](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/48db29/32.png) [@Strangeland64](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Strangeland64)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/5 "2013-10-01T21:56:17Z")
OMG the stuff of my nightmares… !!! Please please never let me encounter either one of these… ---
**Author:** ![JKilez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e5b9ba/32.png) [@JKilez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKilez)\ **Post date:** [October 1, 2013, 11:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/6 "2013-10-01T23:34:49Z")
I have seen Tarantula Hawks–they are big–but nothing like those Asian monstrosities. ---
**Author:** ![Werekoala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/7993a0/32.png) [@Werekoala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Werekoala)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 1:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/7 "2013-10-02T01:37:44Z")
Asian Giant Hornet, hands (ha!) down. They’re bulkier so they can probably smother the other raging hell-beast. Oh, and as an added commentary…gguuuaahhhHHHH!! (I have a near-mortal fear of hornets/wasps/bees) ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/8 "2013-10-02T05:42:32Z")
> [@Strangeland64](#): > > OMG the stuff of my nightmares… !!! Please please never let me encounter either one of these… Thankfully Tarantula Hawks at least are pretty inoffensive critters\*. They are mighty impressive on first view as they cruise by - giant buzzing black ( metallic blue, but it looks black at a distance ) and orange nightmares. But typically they are on ignore most of the time and scarcely seem to notice you, even if you are chasing them with a net. Now the [Western Horse Fly](http://bugguide.net/node/view/722905/bgimage) -that guy I’ll run from. - Unless you’re a tarantula, then all bets are off. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [October 2, 2013, 6:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/bug-people-tarantula-hawk-wasp-vs-asian-giant-hornet-who-wins/670099/9 "2013-10-02T18:26:44Z")
Hmm, no entry on the either the [Schmidt sting pain index](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index) or the [Starr sting pain scale](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starr_sting_pain_scale) for the giant asian hornet. The Tarantula Hawk weighs in near the top of the pain scale, tho. I wonder if either of these guys is ready to give the hornet a try? Here’s an [additional story](http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/10/01/giant-asian-hornets-killing-people-china_n_4023249.html?utm_hp_ref=weird-news) on the hornets with some frightening photos of them. Damn! And, their [presence in the US](http://www.arlingtoncardinal.com/2012/07/deadly-asian-giant-hornet-spotted-in-arlington-heights-not-cicada-killer-wasp/). Yikes!