'uge great wasps!

[Jonzjob]

We are being visited, in our house, by some huge great wasps. They are called Sceliphron destillatorium as far as we can make out. They are about an inch long and look like the front bit is attached to the back bit with a thin bit of yellow wood (note the techy terms ). They also have black and yellow striped legs. The body is black.

I can find various web sites that tell how they build a nest and stock it with spiders for the dear little offspring to munch on while they grow and that they sometimes build these inside buildings, but I can't find out if they are as unfriendly as they look and we don't want to splat them if they are good to have around?

Can anyone enlighten us please .....

John.

[Alexis]

Are these frelon?  Hornets.  I will google to see.

If so, people I know here dash to the hospital if they have been stung.

[Alexis]

Sorry, not seen one of those.

 

[Motorhead]

Depends upon what you prefer the most. They are not paticularly troublesome to people but they are to spiders and less spiders means more flies. Now I prefer spiders to fliies anyday so personally I'd splat 'em.

[Deby]

http://balades.naturalistes.free.fr/guepes_solitaires.php

should help
Deby

[Jonzjob]

Don't like flies!!!! Do like spiders, as long as they ain't  wearing size 9 boots , so have started zapping the things  !! That web site is quit interesting too and there's a lot more info than just bugs too.....

We also have a very interesting and fasciniting beetke that visits our lavender. That is wel over an inch long and flies just like a minature humming bird. Their probiscus is as long as their body and they don't actually touch the flower but just stick the thing in for the nectar. Not much good for polinating I suppose, but the hundreds of bees see to that. I've tried numerous times to get a still photo of one, but they are too fast, but I managed to get some lovely video of it. They don't arf like lavender ...

Thanks for the info,

John.

[Jo Taylor]

No, they're not hornets. And there's no need to rush to the hospital when stung by a hornet - their stings are less harmful than that of a wasp! See http://www.muenster.org/hornissenschutz/hornets.htm

We had a hornet invasion last year, spent every evening chasing them round the living room with a glass and piece of card and humanely evicted them. Never found the nest, probably betwen the floorboards somewhere, they were coming out of the chimney.

Other half came down one morning, cat knocked butter dish off the table, OH knelt down to clear it up and hornet crawled up his trousers (they go dozy in the autumn), he was stung twice though luckily not in a place too tender... hurts, dose of Nurofen, faded in a couple of days.

JO

[goose]

Get away!! You've got some soft hornets down your way - ours wear big boots! Of course their sting is worse than Wasps and anyone in any doubt that they might be getting anaplylactic shock should go straight to hospital. Even the website you quote says see a doctor if it swells.

What yucky pictures of people with wasps on their noses. Are these "hornet lovers" for real or is it a spoof website?

[Jo Taylor]

No, it's not a spoof site, and hornet stings, in general, carry no more hymenoptera venom than that of a wasp. Of course, if you have an adverse reaction to the stings or bites of certain insects and if you suffer swelling from any insect bite or sting you should go to your médicin. I swell up like a balloon when bitten by mossies and horseflies, known as "large local" reaction and carrying a 10% risk of anaphylactic shock, and once had ascending lymphangitis as a result.

I have looked into this subject in great detail, having had hornets in the roof when we lived in the UK then in the immediate vicinity of our property here for the past fifteen years (last year was the only time they've actually moved in!), and because of the danger of my own reaction. I am very very careful!

This site: http://www.insectstings.co.uk has a wealth of information on the subject, and was started by a person who suffers severe allergic reactions.

Jo

[goose]

That looks like a good site and a horrendous story for the author. Have you sussed the horseflies yet? After years of being scared to death because I suffer from allergies, ergo, I assumed I might have a reaction, I found that wasps actually don't really affect me badly, just a sting and small red spot. (still*****e scared of hornets!) But my wife suffers really badly from what we THINK is horseflies, they bite her and the whole area swells and then turns septic. In Thailand the pharmacist prescribed an antihistamine/antibiotic cream that works reasonably well but it still takes 10 days to a fortnight to heal. They don't touch me though. I have oily skin, dark hair. She is pale, fair and dry. Any ideas? She found vitamin B1 (from holland and barrett)stops the mossie bites.

[Feuillant]

The moth on the lavender is probably the humming bird hawk moth - we have lots too, and they fly by day;  does that fit?

 

[Jo Taylor]

Hello Goose,

 

I've only been stung by a bee once in my life, and a wasp once when I was 5 and twice (at the same time, mowed over their nest!) last year. Thankfully, like you, I didn't suffer a bad reaction - one sting was on my heel, hurt horribly probably because of where it was but the other just made an angry lump which faded after a day or two.

Your wife's reaction to the horsefly bite sounds like the same as mine - horseflies definitely do it to me, I've seen them actually do it. One rarely feels it at the time, they slice with such a fine "blade" that it doesn't hurt - just swells the next day followed by pain and itching. Doc prescribes cortisone cream, antihistamine tabs (Telfast, they don't make you dozy) and I find ibuprofen alleviates the pain. I'm pretty sure it's mossies too - seems to happen when they're around. The flies that look like house flies (but bite) do not provoke the reaction- just a small localised lump and itch. The B vitamin thing was mentioned on another thread, Marmite was recommended, I ate it for two days then rapidly went off it! There is also a theory that those with high blood sugar levels are more susceptible.

Humming bird hawk moth: http://www.uksafari.com/hummingbird.htm

 

Jo

[Motorhead]

Hold on a minute while I get my anorak on.

There anorak on now.

You cant talk about hornets AND wasps because hornets ARE wasps they are just bigger species and ceteris paribus have more venom because of this. Grizzly bears are bigger and more dangerous than black bears or sun bears but they're all still bears.

It is mostly incorrect to talk about insect bites as most of the so called biting insects don't have jaws to bite with. What they actually do is stab you with their feeding tubes and then squirt in some digestive juices to pre digest you before sucking the mush back up. It is these juices that cause the swelling and irritation which, as with venom, is quite a subjective experience and varies widely from person to person.

[Motorhead]

Also the theory about the high blood sugar levels was based on the assumption that the stuff that insects squirted out was akin to the salivary amylase that we all might spit ourselves. Now it's years since I've done any proper entomology but I am pretty sure that aint current thought.

[Jonzjob]

Hi Feuillant & Jo,

The Humming bird hawk moth just about fits and they are lovely. That web site looks interesting too. I'm not sure how they got the photo of one in flight, they are so quick. Although I could probably pull on off my video....

My best 1/2 had one of those wasps fly into the kitchen today and she splatted it with our 'fly swat' against the window. It fell onto the work top, shook it's head and tried to fly off. Wrong move because it got the full treatment and was pulverised and even with the head off it was still kicking. I know, I know, when I loose my head I tend ot kick too . What I can't understand is how does the front and back stay together with only a yellow matchstick to hold them there? Strainge machines!!!

John.

P.S. On the subject of moths. We are looking keenly for the Pine Processionary Moth from now on. They are not good fliers and can only get to low branches, max about 6 feet, to lay their eggs. We habe got rid of all our lowest pine branches and more will go, but we will still look for the egg sacks and crush them ( we do love nature, well most of it honest!!!)

[Bobdude]

Does anyone have a piccy of a horse fly? Do they look like giant bluebottles? We have been plagued by them every time we try to go for a swim, trying to land on us in the water. My husband caught one in the pool net, held it under the water at the bottom for 10 minutes (!) then lifted the net and the bloody thing flew up through the water and took off like a guided missile from a submarine. I am frightened to go back in the water (sounds like Jaws doesn't it!)

[Jonzjob]

Hi Lurcher

Nasty little budgerigars. I let them land and just start to bit then WHACK them. They seem slow to move when they have started to bite. My other 1/2 goes spare when they are around.

Loads od info if you trype (?) 'horse fly' on google too.

John.

[Bobdude]

That's definitely not one of our pool invaders! Actually I remember I was bitten by one of those and didn't notice until the blood was trickling down my leg. Painful later on - poor horses. So what are the blooming big flies then? From the top they look just like bluebottles, but twice as big, and if you see a dead one the underside is stripey.

[Bobdude]

Can anyone put a link on here so we might be able to identify our pool invaders? I have been searching forever and not found the info. If they are only thirsty and coming for a drink perhaps I can put up with them - but if they are coming to drink from us that's a different matter!

[Deby]

This site: http://www.insectstings.co.uk has a wealth of information on the subject, and was started by a person who suffers severe allergic reactions.

Jo,

I read that site last summer and thought it was very informative. I was concerned that our French guests were nearly having heartattacks everytime a 'frelon' (hornet) flew past.  There is a great myth here that three stings and you are a gonner.  Even our very good french friends who are very much into nature and very knowledgeable have this belief.  I was too polite to disagree with them (as I am originally a townie), but it did make me smile though!

I am not keen on hornets, but certainly do find them less aggressive than wasps, they just tend to 'sniff' us humans that all, where wasps are usually on some kind of mission.  Having read that story of the guy who had a very bad allergy I was very pleased to discover that my daughter who got stung twice the other day lived to tell the tale - phewey.

No I have a very severe jellyfish alllergy and have never been stung by a wasp and it is always at the back of my mind that I too could be like that bloke - hopefully not!!

Deby

[Bobdude]

Yes, I can quite imagine guests being alarmed at first sight of a Hornet! Like you - I don't find them particularly aggressive. They seem to be very solitary creatures - you always seem to see one on it's own. On a walk last Summer with the dog we accidently stumbled on a Hornet's nest in a tree by the side of the footpath. The loud angry buzzing was very  worrying, but we just quietly walked away and luckily weren't followed. I have never been stung by a bee or a wasp and it's an experience I'd rather do without if possible.

But these black things that are stopping me swimming...............they are certainly flies of some sort, I think. They are 1.5 to 2 inches long. From above they just look like bluebottles, perhaps not quite so black, not shiny at all. But if you see the underside, the abdomen is a lighter colour, sort of tan coloured, with black stripes. The bodies are flat, not curved like bees seem to be, at least when they are standing still. If I knew they were harmless they wouldn't bother me. In the Canicule I used to go out in the evening with a watering can for the plants, closely followed by groups of those type of bees with long dangly rear legs, who couldn't wait for a drink!

[magsw]

A poison extractor as shown on the insectsting site can be bought in France in Pharmacies (it is red and is sold in a red plastic box which looks a bit like a glasses case).  It works for mossie bites too.

[Opalienne]

Both my husband and our dog were stung by hornets last year in Burgundy.   The dog disturbed a nest and they flew out and attacked.   My husband felt very ill quite quickly and we went to hospital where they discovered that his blood pressure had shot up and kept him in on a drip overnight.    The dog went to the vet and got shot full of adrenaline to prevent anaphylacxtic shock.   She was vomiting and wouldn't eat for several days.  So maybe French friends are right about the danger hornets pose.......