This past spring I kept seeing a huge wasp foraging around the yard and picking at the asphalt shingles on my roof. AFAIK it wasn't a Vespa crabro, because I did get a close look at it once and it had a somewhat wider shape and wasn't of crabro coloration. What it looked like was a Vespula yellow jacket, usual bright yellow and black pattern on abdomen, etc. But it was huge! Perhaps 2X the size of a bald-faced "hornet" queen, fat and heavy, and certainly way bigger than any Vespula queen. What I did notice on the one close view was that the cd eyes were big and RED; and apparently the face was red as well. Does anyone know what it might be? Perhaps some spider hunter-wasp? It really was fascinating to see. I was hoping to locate some V. crabro for my collection, but according to Roger Morse they are extremely rare up here (so far). ............Tnx, Joel