# Id this wasp?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [August 24, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189 "2018-08-24T14:50:50Z")
**Posts on this page:** 9
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/1 "2018-08-24T14:50:50Z")
[Pic](https://imgur.com/a/j2drXfL)
Central South Carolina. Similar in size to a bald-faced hornet. Looks to be completely black except for two large yellow spots on the abdomen.
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### Author:  [@CurtC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CurtC)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/2 "2018-08-24T14:57:01Z")
Maybe a harmless cicada killer wasp?
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### Author:  [@Jasmine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jasmine)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/3 "2018-08-24T14:59:53Z")
It looks like “The Wasp from Hell”. :eek:
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/4 "2018-08-24T15:01:15Z")
It appears to be a scoliid wasp. Maybe the Campsomeris quadrimaculata in figure 16.
[https://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/wasps/scoliid\_wasps.htm](https://entnemdept.ifas.ufl.edu/creatures/misc/wasps/scoliid_wasps.htm)
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### Author:  [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/5 "2018-08-24T15:21:05Z")
Yeth, that id wasp.
I second the possibility of it being a [cicada killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus). I get those in my house in SC sometimes. (And do a catch and release.)
(BTW, [_this_](http://canyouactually.com/the-terrifying-japanese-hornet-is-something-straight-from-the-pits-of-hell/) id the wasp from hell.)
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### Author:  [@x-ray\_vision](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/x-ray_vision)
#### Post date: [August 24, 2018, 3:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/6 "2018-08-24T15:30:39Z")
> [@Darren\_Garrison](#):
>
> I second the possibility of it being a [cicada killer](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sphecius_speciosus).
I haven’t seen pics of cicada killers with legs as dark in color as the OP’s pic. I’m still going with a scoliid wasp. The one in figure 16 or a very close relative.
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### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2018, 3:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/7 "2018-08-25T03:03:57Z")
Size looks right for a cicada killer, though the markings look a bit off.
Here’s one from my old house in 2011:
[[Album] Cicada killer, SW Ohio, 2011  ](https://imgur.com/a/UwpOdhF)
I kind of miss having them around.
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### Author:  [@black\_rabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/black_rabbit)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2018, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/8 "2018-08-25T03:07:14Z")
> [@x-ray\_vision](#):
>
> I haven’t seen pics of cicada killers with legs as dark in color as the OP’s pic. I’m still going with a scoliid wasp. The one in figure 16 or a very close relative.
You’re right. The OP’s wasp’s legs look black.
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### Author:  [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)
#### Post date: [August 25, 2018, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/id-this-wasp/820189/9 "2018-08-25T18:28:29Z")
Thanks. I found the corpse, and it’s definitely a scoliid wasp. It actually had four large yellow spots, but the way it was turned, I saw only two.