Fucking massive wasp. What do I do?

[Labourious]

I’m going to sound insane. DH is away from home with work. I’m here with my 3yo DS and DD who is only 6 weeks! I heard something downstairs moving about. I thought it was a burglar. So I made noise and turned lights on and off in the hallway. I then ventured downstairs with my phone ready to call the police, absolutely terrified. There’s the biggest wasp I’ve ever seen. I thought it was a bird! It’s easily 10cm long! I’m not squeamish, I lived in Costa Rica with some massive bugs, I killed a false widow earlier today. But I just went straight back upstairs. I can still hear it hitting the walls, bouncing around downstairs. What do I do?!

If it’s a Japanese Hornet then a single one is unlikely to kill you, unless you’re allergic to the venom. People are killed every year by these critters in Asia, but it tends to be by a gang of them rather than a single specimen - when they get riled up they call on their friends, who will collectively chase and sting their antagonists.

If you see a single one then the best policy is to close the door and wait for it to go away. If there is no means of escape for it then you will need to create one by opening a window. In extremis, arm yourself with a tennis racquet or something similar as these are quite good for swatting them away. You can also get electrified racquets from Amazon, albeit for any future encounters as I dare say you won’t want to wait for even a same day delivery in the current circumstances…

Ye gods. 🫣

I know it’s gone but could have been this? Harmless if so.

Is it worth buying a beekeeper's outfit in advance for these eventualities?

We’ve had five in our house in the last week 😩

Electrify it ??? Noooo

Just put a glass over it and take it out 😁or a washing up bowl

Well... Isn't that just the cutest darn thought?

If you do capture it can we have a pic plzzzzzz

Was it a wood wasp perhaps, size of a thumb and look the part?

Perhaps the animal kingdom is going to retaliate for the unnecessary death of the spider and the wasp/hornet was doing a recce.

@Labourious I live in Bedfordshire 😫😫😫😫 what if it's my turn next 😱

@Labourious We don’t have any 10cm long wasps or hornets in UK. We do have Hummingbird Hawk Moth about that size? Harmless but the first time I saw one I was seriously ready to run (allergic to wasp stings so trust me, I’m an expert)

I'm not sure it was a wasp OP. Could it have been a hummingbird hawk moth? They're pretty big and you certainly know they're in the house. I've had them in the home counties and I'm not sure of their range within the UK, but they're definitely here and they're big.

I put on a clean t-shirt years ago and felt something crawling on my stomach and it then tried to fly and buzzed angrily. I ripped off the t-shirt and found what was either a wasp or a hornet. It was v docile and we measured it. 6cm long! Very handsome.

This thread is so dramatic.

Hornets do not go out of their way to sting people.

Just go in, open the window and wait for it to leave. It's not going to attack you.

A queen hornet once came out of our chimney - that was huge, but not as huge as you describe. I emailed the Royal Emtomological Society to ask what it was as it was grey (they explained that it was covered in soot from being in the chimney).

Unless it was buzzing (hornets are very loud) I think it is more likely to be a huge moth - just googled hummingbird hawk moth - how gorgeous (and slightly terrifying).

If it was a wood wasp, as previous posters have suggested, they are completely harmless. They're an enormous type of saw fly and the long 'sting' is an ovipositer that they use to lay eggs deep in wood. I think it may only be the females that have one. They're bloody intimidating but couldn't hurt you if they wanted to, unless they said something mean about your weight!

The larvae live in wood and sometimes emerge as adults from logs in people's homes but they can just blunder in through open windows.

I think if it was a hornet you would have heard it buzzing. It is likely to be something harmless.

And yet, here you are clicking on a thread titled “Massive wasp, what do I do??”….

It definitely wasn’t a Hummingbird Hawk Moth, although, if it had been then it’s a good think DH is away because he’s terrified of moths (he says they’re too frantic).

The spider didn’t die “needlessly”. I don’t like killing spiders and don’t usually mind them in the house at all. However, false widows are very venomous and can be very dangerous to children. It was in DS’s bedroom and I also have a newborn in the house. You’re supposed to kill them, they aren’t your average spider. You’re also supposed to kill Asian Giant Hornets because they aren’t safe and cause huge issues with our native wildlife. Please can people stop acting like killing an invasive, dangerous and non-native bug that’s causing harm and posing a risk is a hysterical response.

Waiting for the morning update...

showofhands that definitely does look like an Asian giant hornet!

False widow spiders: Mum's warning after baby is bitten

www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-62721881.amp

Such an over-reaction by so many ones an insect. Can you imagine a bunch of men doing the same?

I’d have opened external doors and windows and just waited for it to fly out. Which it did. No drama.

I don't know why so many people think it's an Asian hornet too much daily mail reading it's far more likely to be a European hornet which are bigger but not at all aggressive.

@ShowOfHands that's a European hornet, glad you didn't squish him!

But if it was 6cm long as showofhands reports, that would be too big for a Europeans hornet.