Yellow Jackets on steroids?

[Jakester]

My wife and I recently visited the Biltmore Estate in No. Carolina, while checking out the gardens I noticed(always checking out the bees) some VERY large ( looks kinda like a yellow jacket) bee in the same flowers as the honey bees.
I have never seen anything like it before ( we live in NH) .Anyone know anything about this huge critter?...It looked pretty nasty!

[Swobee]

There is a wasp known as the Cicada Killer, I don't know the scientific name, but they're impressively large. I also don't know if they use nectar or not. But, they have a stinger about 3/4" long that hinges from their abdomen - and don't sting people. A cicada gets stung, becomes paralyzed and then these wasps are big enough to haul one off like a large military helicopter transports tanks and such.

Just a shot in the dark, but I've witnessed these huge wasps in action and they are quite big.

[blaine]

Yup. Sounds like what he said. :D

They are BIG, Noisy, and quite impressive. Good thing they are not agressive. Even if they had no venom at all, the size of the stinger would poke a rather large deep and painful hole in ya.

They kill Cicada's, and fly with them back to their underground lair, where they feed their young.
:eek:

Blaine

[Jack Grimshaw]

Cicada killer

http://www.discoverlife.org/mp/20q?search=Sphecius+speciosus

[pbaumeister]

I have dealt with these a few times. I don't believe they are very aggressive, but they are quite freightening for people. They seem to live near other nests, however, they are a solitary bee. I have never known them to be aggressive towards honey bees.

[iddee]

Or possibly this one??????

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vespa_crabro