I don't care for insects bigger than my face.

I was waiting for it to wake up, say "PSYYYYYYYYCH" and then sting him.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_giant_hornet#Sting

And they can take down a colony of honey bees.

I think it's safe to say this wasn't somebody's pet.

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That was pretty damn interesting. An amazing and frightening creature.

since i have such an irrational fear of bees/wasps/hornets just watching this creeps me out.
let me put it this way:
my fear is so irrational that if i was driving a car you happened to be a passenger in and a hornet of that size flew into the car..well..kiss your ass goodbye cuz i am jumping out of the car.

The pair of vestigial wings on a fly are called "halteres".

This is why shotguns were invented.

Nukes.

Lots of nukes.

I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.

Upvote for his obvious grappling with not swearing when describing the size of it.

It's pretty scary to think that that huge stinger and potent venom exist solely to mess up much larger animals like ourselves. Apparently it's not really needed for dealing with other insects, which they can simply chomp in half.

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Comment hidden because you are ignoring dag.(show it anyway)

They really are beautiful when you're not thinking about them stinging you. They remind me of some kind of jeweled precision machine.

You don't need to go overseas to find flying insects this big with a stinger -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer

We've got these all over the Midwest, and they are intimidating as hell.

>> ^Payback:

I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure.


Well technically we tried that with them before and evidently these things survived.

SORRY! SORRY! Way bad taste, but it just popped out!

>> ^silvercord:

You don't need to go overseas to find flying insects this big with a stinger -
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_cicada_killer
We've got these all over the Midwest, and they are intimidating as hell.
You beat me by 7 hours. This was the first thing I thought of after seeing this video. I remember seeing cicada killers on my grandparents' ranch and being thoroughly creeped out and fascinated by them.

*FEAR

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First order of business? Free honey for everyone!

Op done stung myself.

I'm sorry, vestigial wings that act like gyroscopes and allow the fly to do amazing maneuvers? That makes no sense at all.

Oh, I see. There is a new definition of "vestigial" out. Well damn, with that definition, almost every organ can be called vestigial.

I suppose they had to change the definition of the term, because no vestigial organs exist otherwise.

>> ^Sniper007:

I'm sorry, vestigial wings that act like gyroscopes and allow the fly to do amazing maneuvers? That makes no sense at all.
Oh, I see. There is a new definition of "vestigial" out. Well damn, with that definition, almost every organ can be called vestigial.
I suppose they had to change the definition of the term, because no vestigial organs exist otherwise.


Halteres are vestigial in that they are greatly reduced in size, and structural and functional complexity from the ancestral wings. In fact, they serve as little more than mass, and interact minimally with the surrounding air. The interesting stuff happens when they are waved back and forth. Sensory organs at their base detect deviations in their movement caused by changes in the orientation of the insect while in flight.
So, yes, they are vestigial, and no, not by some broad definition that encompasses most "organs". Wings, for instance, are not vestigial because there are tremendous selection pressures acting to refine and constrain their shape and other physical properties.