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Odd question... (this is probably in the wrong place)
We walk nightly, and the past two nights we've been chased by this big, black flying wasp/beetle thing.
The first encounter... there was running, screaming then laughing... because seeing two grown people tripping over their dog while trying to run away from a bug is sort of hilarious...
But, this evening... It landed on my leg and bit or stung me . It was actually bleeding and it realllllly hurt! So, I swatted at it, then it angrily chased us down a neighborhood street for about... oh.... 3 or 4 blocks. "Run in a zig-zag pattern!!" my husband yelled to me. We are so lucky we didn't get hit by a car because we were all over the place.
It was embarrassing, but dang it... that bite HURT.
I read that some wasps will hunt you and sting you about 10 times... VIOLENTLY. Ugh. After this guy stung me, he was trying to get back to the same place he stung me the first time.
It was large, a little larger than a silver dollar, and I think it had a 2-section body that was wider than a wasp and it was solid black. It looked like a fat great black wasp... I think.
I didn't think these things could be so aggressive. Two of them two days in a row?! Should I carry a can of raid with me? Bathe in "off"? Anyone have any suggestions?
I'm sorry this happened. Maybe you were close to it's nest. See if anybody else in that area knows anything about it and obviously I would not walk in that area again. I hope you find out what it is. Carry a badmitten racket or something large enough to capture or smack it down. if you see it again.
I am going to say bald-faced hornet - mostly black, but with a white tip and face. Were you attacked in the same spot? - definitely a nest there in the bushes. Most really big wasps - Giant European Hornet, Cicada Killer (which absolutely disgust me walking around their nests), Great Black Wasp - are mostly non-violent, and the fact that you were chased by the same kind makes me think of Brown Wasp or Bald-Faced Hornet, defending it's nest. Size of a silver dollar? Well, maybe they grow 'em bigger in Raleigh...
Since this was moved I should mention... I live in the Raleigh, North Carolina area.
Thanks
Funny thing, the same type of bug chased me while I was mowing my grass - literally chased me. It finally bit me too and it hurt! I'm right out of Wake Forest in NC.
I agree, it sounds like you walk by a nest. I was stung last summer by a very aggressive bee or wasp, the dark brown kind...when I was clearing weeds next to a bush where the nest was located. The burning sensation was very painful.
Sounds a lot like a paper wasp to me. I had a couple in the back yard and the darn things would chase me. They look prehistoric and they are very large.
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