The verdict is in; it was a european hornet. The exterminator was a little confused at first too - until he scraped off the enormous amount of pollen this thing was carrying, which made it look much bigger than it was. This confuses me, because I thought hornets eat other bugs, not pollen or nectar?
Anyhoo, he also said if I only see one I’m fine, if I start to see 3-4 in a week, get him back there right away.
[shudder]
Huh…
While they are large I would not call them unusually large or ginormous.
Even the Queens are not spectacularly huge (albeit plenty big to keep your attention).
The hornets I’ve seen look like elongated bumble bees. Anything that is 2 inches long and looks like it can sting is ginormous in my book (having been stung many times from stepping on a yellow jacket nest as a kid).
According to Wiki the Queen (the biggest of the whole nest) is 1-1.4 inches long. And do the queens even get out and about much or do they mostly stay in their nest?
Granted that is still too big in my book too and I would freak with one in the house with me but I would not put it on a ginormous bug list. Just uncomfortably large and all too menacing looking. 
My first thought was also cicada killer, but I wondered if maybe it was too early for them. Around here they don’t start showing up until around the middle of the summer – about the same time the cicadas start showing up, or a little before. I don’t think I’ve ever seen them in April or May.
I don’t know if European Hornets are different the others, but the queens do tend to migrate a bit during the early part of the year. If they have to find their own nesting site or create a new nest, that’s when they’ll choose where to settle down.
Hmmmm. It was definitely closer to 2 inches. 1 1/4 inches doesn’t begin to cover it. That’s even with the post-death adrenaline free inspection . . . But the markings on the EH abdomen are about right.
Doesn’t solve the pollen questions either. . .
Darn, I put it down the garbage disposal after he left - wish I hadn’t!
Well, if you got a good look at the abdomen, was it at all hairy or fuzzy?
here’s the European Hornet in close-up
Here’s my close-up of the cicada-killer’s abdomen
Although the angle is different, you can see the difference – the cicada-killer is shiny smooth and hairless, whereas the hornet, although not furry like a honeybee, has numerous long hairs all over the abdomen. And the coloration looks superficially similar.
If yours was 2 inches and had a slick abdomen, I’d say your guy misidentified the insect.
