So I heard a buzzing noise...went into the kitchen and there was a wasp.....but it wasn't an ordinary wasp....it was huge. At least 6cm. Almost like in honey i blew up the kids. Just a giant wasp.
I don't know much about wasps....was it a hornet? queen wasp? if there was one does it mean there's more lurking around waiting to eat me?????

It does look like a hornet, can be quite painful. There may be a nest around, might be worth checking..

Was it black and slim?

No it just looked like a wasp that was huge. Literally like in the movies when things are enlarged. It had exactly the same body shape/markings...only the wings looked a little smaller than i'd have expected...

Got to be a hornet then at least.
Out of my league Im afraid, I always thought that hornets didnt exist in that part of the country.

that doesn't sound like good news. don't suppose there's a chance it could just be one that got lost?? i can just se one of my lazy cats going '' mmm dinner...sizeable portion that thing'' and then it not being too good....
where do they nest? not that i'm going to go and poke around just see if there is anything so i can get a professional!

If the buzzing has stopped then it was probably a stray. Have a listen tomorrow to see if any of the walls are buzzing.
My cat leaped and grabbed a wasp last year which stung him in the paw.
Nasty.

havent seen any since i chased it out of the kitchen and locked the house up for a few hours - was great fun in the heat. Havent seen even a wasp since so it could have been a one off. just looked on wiki said the nests can house up to 700 drones.....hmmmm

http://www.microscope-microscope.org/gallery/Kenn/Bald%20faced%20Hornet-3.jpg

gulp

havent seen any since i chased it out of the kitchen and locked the house up for a few hours - was great fun in the heat. Havent seen even a wasp since so it could have been a one off. just looked on wiki said the nests can house up to 700 drones.....hmmmm
Looks like its a stray then. Its a little late for nests to be sending out queens to colonise in ones or twos.
If there was a nest nearby then no doubt theyd send out hundreds.
Not that im an expert on hornets or wasps, but theyre sociable insects so they cant be too different to ants and bees.
Id consider it a crisis over if i were you.

http://www.microscope-microscope.org/gallery/Kenn/Bald%20faced%20Hornet-3.jpg

gulp
Beautiful yet.....disgusting...

Yup, definitely sounds like a hornet. If you want a bit of exercise, try annoying the next one you find in your kitchen - it'll make you run faster than ever before ;)

Hornets are large eusocial wasps, reaching up to 1.5 inches in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa, and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex (part of the head behind the eyes), which is proportionally larger in Vespa; and by the anteriorly rounded gasters (the section of the abdomen behind the wasp waist).

Stings
Hornets are often (although wrongly) thought to be very aggressive and dangerous, and are much feared by some people. Hornets can actually be seen to slowly crawl backwards and eventually flee, rather than attacking, when approaching them. This can make it hard to remove hornets from indoors, if they happen to come in through an open window or door. Some folk beliefs have it that three stings from the European hornet can kill an adult human, and that seven can kill a horse. While impressive due to their size, European hornets are in fact much less aggressive than some of their smaller relatives (notably the yellowjackets Vespula germanica and Vespula vulgaris), and their sting isn't more dangerous. Unwarranted fear has often led to the destruction of nests, and the species is locally threatened. It benefits from legal protection in some countries, notably Germany.

Hornets are not harmless, however. They have a painful sting and can cause anaphylactic shock to persons with an allergy to wasp venom, a condition which can be fatal. While not aggressive when encountered far from the nest, workers will vigorously defend the nest if provoked.


FURTHER DETAILS HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet)

Hornets are large eusocial wasps, reaching up to 1.5 inches in length. The true hornets make up the genus Vespa, and are distinguished from other vespines by the width of the vertex (part of the head behind the eyes), which is proportionally larger in Vespa; and by the anteriorly rounded gasters (the section of the abdomen behind the wasp waist).

[/URL]Stings
Hornets are often (although wrongly) thought to be very aggressive and dangerous, and are much feared by some people. Hornets can actually be seen to slowly crawl backwards and eventually flee, rather than attacking, when approaching them. This can make it hard to remove hornets from indoors, if they happen to come in through an open window or door. Some folk beliefs have it that three stings from the European hornet can kill an adult human, and that seven can kill a horse. While impressive due to their size, European hornets are in fact much less aggressive than some of their smaller relatives (notably the yellowjackets Vespula germanica and Vespula vulgaris), and their sting isn't more dangerous. Unwarranted fear has often led to the destruction of nests, and the species is locally threatened. It benefits from legal protection in some countries, notably Germany.

Hornets are not harmless, however. They have a painful sting and can cause anaphylactic shock to persons with an allergy to wasp venom, a condition which can be fatal. While not aggressive when encountered far from the nest, workers will vigorously defend the nest if provoked.


FURTHER DETAILS HERE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hornet)
Yummy.
Cant wait to try one.

Don't worry OB have no need to be chased by one. there's a high chance i'd end up in anaphylaxis which wouldn't be good. more concerned about my cats if there's a nest around. Hopefully it just got lost and has gone home somewhere miles from here!!

About 20 years ago there was a massive out break, if that is the correct word, of these on the East Coast.
We went over to Hornsea one day and it was swarming with them. They were every where.
We were on the beach and my children were running upand down, when my daughter (3 years old then) came to me and showed me a mark on her arm.
It just looked like a midge bite. I said, its OK it will go off. I was stupid not to realise it was a hornet sting.
Two minutes later her arm had swollen up to twice its size and she was in agony.
It was a Sunday and all the doctors were closed, we found a cottage hospital just out of the town and managed to get her some emergency treatment, otherwise we would have had to drive all the way back to Hull.
With the pain she was in she would have been in serious difficulty by then.
I would just say that I could quite imagine a few of these killing someone if that reaction is anything to go by.

So a Hornets sting is worse than a wasps?
Ive yet to see a hornet, I was told that they dont have them in south yorkshire because its too cool, but with global warming....
I was told that hornets are all over here in Leicestershire but so far, after four years of living here, i have yet to see one.

well i'm not far from you JW so maybe mine is on its way to yours....
I imagine that as they hold more venom? that the right word? as a wasp it would be nastier, and for those of us allergic to such things....welll doubt it would help matters!

You say "at least 6cm".

This makes it unlikely to be a Common Wasp nor a Hornet.

It was probably a Wood Wasp/Horntail (http://www.kendall-bioresearch.co.uk/hymen.htm#horntail).

They look quite frightening, with a long spike at the back, but are harmless.
The spike is an egg-laying tube (ovipositor) and not a 'sting'.

well on wiki it said they're about 1.5" , 2" and 5cm is 2" or is my maths way out?? anywho the picture on the site was a dead ringer for my little visitor....