Big wasp

First off, thanks all for the Birthday greetings yesterday, appreciated.

I was just logging on to my computer when I heard a loud, deep, ominous drone. Experience told me that I was not to expect a mosquito or a bluebottle and that I should be looking for something a tad larger. After less than a second, the drone stopped. This brings a modicum of relief, as I now know that the evil monster is not airborne. I knew it was still present, because the drone stopped suddenly. Armed with a trusty can of spray, I scanned the area and there it was, on the window frame. A HUGE WASP!

I resisted the temptation to blast the winged devil and began to see it as a rare opportunity for a quality blip. Technically inside the house even though the window was open, it would make a good addition to the accidental series on house guests. I fired up the camera, keeping one eye on the monster. As you have probably deduced by now, I do not like wasps. I would call my dread of wasps a phobia, but some would argue that if it was a true phobia, then there is no way that I would have been able to get this close for a blip. I have met people with true phobias and I have to agree.

The big question on my mind, apart from the wasp the size of a sand martin in my room, was how close was I prepared to go, to get my blip. I sat in my swivel chair, feet poised to scoot me back. I took a backup shot from three feet, but that was not going to impress anyone. I inched my way forward, shooting as I went. When I got to about two feet, I noticed that the wasp started to fidget every time I moved. It was clearly paying attention to me.

I very slowly inched forward some more. The wasp was clearly agitated by me now. Sweating profusely, I took another couple of shots. I was not going any closer, so I decided to finish off with a flash shot, because I anticipated the brown window frame and the wasps colorings to be a problem. As soon as the flash fired, the horrible hulk was airborne. I failed to see the missed opportunity of an in-flight photograph of the wasp, instead I squealed like a girl, crashed my chair into my computer table and ran half way down the stairs. After a minute, I managed to restart my heart, gathered my wits together and returned. I checked around, but Lucifer had left the building.

I processed the shots, the final flash shot being far superior to all the others. I cropped it down to a blip and was very pleased with the result. I measured the window frame (63.7mm), took a photo of my steel rule and layered it to the wasp photo. I scaled the rule layer to match the frame and then was able to move the rule around to measure my catch. Body length 25mm (1 inch), wing length 23mm giving a wingspan of 51mm (2 inches). Wow! I was brave. I have to go and lie down now.

Update - paper wasp (species Polistes tenebricosus).

Dave