# ID this Flying Insect **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 25, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360 "2003-06-25T21:03:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/1 "2003-06-25T21:03:37Z")
OK I have a caller with a bug ID question… Grammy has killed this bug in Montgomery Alabama and wants to know what it is. Flying Insect with large stinger Body - Smooth, over 1 in long, black with yellowish stripes, BIG stinger Wings - reddish Legs - red Head - reddish Suggestions?? ---
**Author:** ![Q.E.D](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/51bf81/32.png) [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/2 "2003-06-25T21:09:28Z")
[Sabre Wasp](http://www.offwell.free-online.co.uk/woodland_manage/ichneum.htm)? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/3 "2003-06-25T21:10:51Z")
Oh yeah, and it’s “about as big around as your pinkie finger”. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/4 "2003-06-25T21:17:11Z")
Sounds like some kind of hornet or solitary wasp. The ‘stinger’ might just be an ovipositor though. ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/5 "2003-06-25T21:18:03Z")
Nope - she said it looked almost like a hornet - but bigger. ---
**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:** [June 25, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/6 "2003-06-25T21:56:13Z")
Possibly a **Cicada Killer** - They’re big and often have a brownish-red cast to them. Here’s a photo: [http://ppdl.org/dd/images/cicadakiller\_wasp-grass.jpeg](http://ppdl.org/dd/images/cicadakiller_wasp-grass.jpeg) - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/7 "2003-06-25T21:56:28Z")
OOooo Think I found it - [European Hornet](http://www.forestryimages.org/images/768x512/0001024.jpg) I just wonder with the name “European”, should it be in Alabama? ---
**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:** [June 25, 2003, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/8 "2003-06-25T22:00:11Z")
Better shot of a European Hornet ( that does look closer ): [http://www.muenster.org/hornissenschutz/grbilder/horniseite.htm](http://www.muenster.org/hornissenschutz/grbilder/horniseite.htm) - Tamerlane ---
**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:** [June 25, 2003, 10:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/9 "2003-06-25T22:01:52Z")
Oh and it was introduced into the U.S. in 1840 and has since naturalized. - Tamerlane ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [June 25, 2003, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-flying-insect/184360/10 "2003-06-25T22:24:44Z")
Sorry, I should have specified European Hornet - I keep forgetting that many non-European species are smaller than ordinary wasps (yellowjackets) and then nobody knows what I’m talking about.