>Hi Folks, > > I found an interesting but ominous looking insect around some empty >frames the other day. I saw the same insects last year in a hive that died >of mites. It is rather large, burgundy with yellow stripes over the >abdomen. It makes the bald faced hornet look wimpy. I would not want to >be stung by this wasp(?). Does anyone have the correct species name and >common name. Thanks Ron H. > Cambridge Springs Pa. > USA Sounds like _Vespa crabro_, the European Hornet. Not necessarily a good thing to have around one's hives. Doug Yanega Illinois Natural History Survey, 607 E. Peabody Dr. Champaign, IL 61820 USA phone (217) 244-6817, fax (217) 333-4949 affiliate, Univ. of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Dept. of Entomology http://www.inhs.uiuc.edu:80/~dyanega/my_home.html "There are some enterprises in which a careful disorderliness is the true method" - Herman Melville, Moby Dick, Chap. 82