What demon is this, and should i be worried

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4cyl2vy

ArboristSite Member
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Feb 16, 2010
Messages
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Location
New York
These are flying all around my wood shed. Anyone have any ideas what they are and if they need to be dealt with harshly?

 
That looks like a tarantula hawk. They feed on nectar but hunt tarantulas to feed their young.they paralyze a tarantula and bring them down to their holes for the babies to feast on. They have the second most painful bite in the insect world. I understand it feels like a bolt of lightning.
 
No tarantulas in NY that I am aware of. This insect is about the size of a large black ant. Maybe something dead in the pile? They just seem to buzz around, not doing anything productive. Scouting or drawn in by the smell of something it would seem.
 
Not sure what the real name is but round here we call them stump f***ers. Never been bit by one but like said above I've heard it hurts a little.
 
I don't know what its called, but it sure looks like a bug that if it bit people it might hurt more than a bug that bites.and doesn't hurt. Around these parts we don't have a name for any bug like that so we just say hey lookout there is one dem whutjamajiggers flying around here.
 
That looks like a tarantula hawk. They feed on nectar but hunt tarantulas to feed their young.they paralyze a tarantula and bring them down to their holes for the babies to feast on. They have the second most painful bite in the insect world. I understand it feels like a bolt of lightning.
I do not think it is a Pepsis wasp (Tarantula Hawk). The Tarantula Hawk Wasps I am familiar with from New Mexico and West Texas are very large wasps with solid black body and bright orange wings. I think is is the State Bug of New Mexico.
https://www.desertmuseum.org/kids/oz/long-fact-sheets/Pepsis Wasp.php
 
Is there any hickory in the shed? Theres a critter that lives in the bark of cut hickory until it's big enough to go out and make more critters, looks a lot like that, a large wasp. Some call it a horntail I think?
 
I was gonna say horntail also. That's what we call them but I doubt its the proper name. I live on the other side of the border and I have them flying around here too. Never seen them cause a problem but they freak out the women and city people also.
 
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