Wasp

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henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
Could this be a 1st for the year, bit early?
Central uk.
A male common wasp(vespula vulgaris)just gave him some sugar water & he’s really picked up really nice.A7FE6EF1-FAEC-4446-9E0D-EC329CA99C61.jpeg
 

Tony

White bear (Admin)
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Apr 16, 2003
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www.bushcraftuk.com
I had a wasp on my living room floor the other day, it seemed a bit worse for wear, no idea how it got there, maybe off the firewood... It was a big old thing though...
 

slowworm

Full Member
May 8, 2008
1,982
934
Devon
I didn't know the males over-Wintered. I thought it was just the pregnant queens.

There you go, learn something new :)
I think it is a queen, as you say it is only the queens that overwinter.

They often overwinter in logs stores and half wake up when you bring logs into the warm. We get a dozen or so a year.
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
Now I can see in day light, I do believe it’s a queen wasp.
Time to let it go, just hopes she finds a home as it’s freezing outside.
598E8E24-1834-4D96-A56D-19CECAB4CC2E.jpeg234B024F-2ABD-461A-8674-24337C3B0F61.jpeg
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Midgies are hellish things, but to be honest, I think clegs are worse.

We had a hummingbird moth in the garden a few years ago (the forage on the Lady's Bedstraw I gror for the dye from the roots) and I thought it was dying. It was going absolutely bananas buzzing around on it's back on the gravel and the woodchips under the Rowan.
This moth is the size of a blue tit for scale comparison.
Himself came out and took a few photos. It was only when we put them up on the computer screen that we spotted the wasp that was stinging the moth for all it was worth.

1613128125837.png1613128125837.png
 
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henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
Midgies are hellish things, but to be honest, I think clegs are worse.

We had a hummingbird moth in the garden a few years ago (the forage on the Lady's Bedstraw I gror for the dye from the roots) and I thought it was dying. It was going absolutely bananas buzzing around on it's back on the gravel and the woodchips under the Rowan.
This moth is the size of a blue tit for scale comparison.
Himself came out and took a few photos. It was only when we put them up on the computer screen that we spotted the wasp that was stinging the moth for all it was worth.

View attachment 64252View attachment 64252
I recall someone mentioning cleggs but never gave it a though..
what are they?
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
Horseflies. They have very dirty bites and they hurt when they chew a bit out of you.

The photograph isn't terribly clear because the wings are just a blur as the hummingbird hawk moth frantically tried to free itself from the wasp, but those are paver bricks it's beside.
 

tombear

On a new journey
Jul 9, 2004
4,494
556
54
Rossendale, Lancashire
We had one in the Shed start of last week, evidentally the previously mild winter has messed up the queens hibernation cycle so it emerged early. Most likely the ones that have come out early will starve before their main sources of food become available.

Atb

Tom
 
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henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
Horseflies. They have very dirty bites and they hurt when they chew a bit out of you.

The photograph isn't terribly clear because the wings are just a blur as the hummingbird hawk moth frantically tried to free itself from the wasp, but those are paver bricks it's beside.
Nasty little bite on them..I think they have a slicing action mouth parts like the pesty midge does.(no see ums).
I balloon up where I get bit by them?
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
Me too :(
I carry an epi pen because of the blighters.
They took mine off me (I’m allergic to certain nuts & I’m asthmatic)they said my throat would close up & I’d probably die if I used it again?..
there really is no hope for me then??
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
I think that sounds ridiculous if not criminal.

How many did you use ?

Thankfully I have never had to use mine. I know that if I present at hospital with anaphylactic shock they'll try antihistamines first, and only if nothing eases will they administer the epi pen.

Mostly I manage fine using anti histamines and an anti inflammatory.

Doesn't stop it hurting, itching like fireants or swelling up like a balloon, but it keeps on top of it.

M
 

henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
I think that sounds ridiculous if not criminal.

How many did you use ?

Thankfully I have never had to use mine. I know that if I present at hospital with anaphylactic shock they'll try antihistamines first, and only if nothing eases will they administer the epi pen.

Mostly I manage fine using anti histamines and an anti inflammatory.

Doesn't stop it hurting, itching like fireants or swelling up like a balloon, but it keeps on top of it.

M
I used it once when I had a weak chocolate bar moment, it had peanuts in it? pollen count was through the roof as well so my Asthma was bad.
My ex wife is a nurse so she had to chance it & jabbed it in my neck..don’t think she liked me? then rushed to hospital.
Never again?
 

Toddy

Mod
Mod
Jan 21, 2005
38,937
4,570
S. Lanarkshire
That's what a wasp sting does to me. If I'm stung on the hand it looks like a marigold glove that you've blown air into :)
That's it....and then it starts leaking fluid through the overstretched skin. It's horrible, it can totally immobilise a joint. I was bitten right behind my knee, and you can imagine the result.

Weeding under the willows I didn't see the cleg, but I was bitten on my throat. That one was kind of scary. My heart fluttered like a bird trapped in my chest and I could feel my throat start to swell up inside.
I really wondered if I was going to need the epi pen that time, but the antihistamine and 600mg ibuprofen knocked it back enough to settle it down a bit.
I used it once when I had a weak chocolate bar moment, it had peanuts in it? pollen count was through the roof as well so my Asthma was bad.
My ex wife is a nurse so she had to chance it & jabbed it in my neck..don’t think she liked me? then rushed to hospital.
Never again?

Your neck ??? It's supposed to go into a major muscle, like the thigh.
I think I'd be keeping my epi pen well out of her reach, tbh.

I hope you never need another one.

M
 
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henchy3rd

Settler
Apr 16, 2012
611
423
Derby
That's it....and then it starts leaking fluid through the overstretched skin. It's horrible, it can totally immobilise a joint. I was bitten right behind my knee, and you can imagine the result.

Weeding under the willows I didn't see the cleg, but I was bitten on my throat. That one was kind of scary. My heart fluttered like a bird trapped in my chest and I could feel my throat start to swell up inside.
I really wondered if I was going to need the epi pen that time, but the antihistamine and 600mg ibuprofen knocked it back enough to settle it down a bit.


Your neck ??? It's supposed to go into a major muscle, like the thigh.
I think I'd be keeping my epi pen well out of her reach, tbh.

I hope you never need another one.
What ever the reason, it worked & I’m thankful.

like you, in the summer months I live on antihistamines. who ever thought that pollen could make you look like you’ve been a couple of rounds with Tyson Fury
 

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