European hornet

[Jannyfox]

This was a bit of a scary thing to see in my garden today - it is massive! I'm pretty certain it is a European hornet, not its Asian cousin which would be bad news (and reportable). It's an important pollinator and more docile than a wasp unless you do something silly, and with so much in my garden still well in bloom it wasn't the slightest bit interested in me, so that's okay. This was unfortunately the only place it settled for more than half a second, so not the greatest of shots but at least I got one. If I was any good I'd have an in flight shot............but I'm not............


European hornet by Jannyfox on Talk Photography

 

[mark richards]

yes they are very big, when i first saw one , I thought " WTF" is that, frightened the life out of me, I have been stung by wasps, that was bad enough
dont fancy being stung by these,

 

[Graham]

Looks like its having a rest, they are normally buzzing around the flower beds looking for smaller flies to chomp on.
Don`t be to frightened by them, just sit back and watch them go about their business and you will learn from that what they are like.