Behold!

[dynagrip]

Comments

[holom]

Woah. I bet the badass wasp got laid when he brought that back.

[dynagrip]

It was a female wasp. Apparently male wasps don't have stingers, because they're derived from ovipositors. I didn't know that until yesterday.

The more you know!

[apotheos]

I have never ever seen a wasp that big, and am worried about the girlish sounds I would make should I ever be confronted by one.

[neutron]

If I could see it a little closer, I'd be more certain of this, but...

It's in the family Vespidae, probably in the genus Polistes.
The one someone linked to below is in the family Pompilidae, commonly called "tarantula hawks." Vespids are social, Pompilids are not- the Vespid's sting packs more of a punch (in my experience) because they sting for defense, while the solitary wasps tend to sting for prey immobilization.

And yeah, all the stingy ones are girls. Insert gender-analogy joke here.

-An entomologist who randomly stalked your journal via someone else's.

[sempronius]

that'.. a wasp... oh god

don't mind me. I just like curling up into fetal positions. for fun.

[ourstorythusfar]

[bethlehem80]

these pictures make the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. *shudder*