The mammoth wasp or dagger wasp , whose scientific name is Megascolia maculata flavifrons, is the largest hymenoptera in Europe and the second largest in the world. We can find it throughout the Spanish territory, and in size it is only surpassed by the hornets.The mammoth wasp is little known, although it is one of the jewels in the crown of Spanish insects. Its size varies and usually measures about 4-5 centimeters, the female being able to reach 6.
It is also commonly called the hornet, leading to confusion with the European hornet, whose scientific name is Vespa crabro.
Its distribution covers central and southern Europe and also reaches the Middle East from Turkey to Iran, Syria, Lebanon and Israel.

What is it like

The mammoth wasp is striking for its black color with four intense yellow spots on its abdomen . His wings are also dark. The males have a size between 2 and 4 centimeters, as we said above, and their females are larger, up to 6 centimeters.
The females have a much more intense color and have larger yellow spots on their heads.
On the other hand, the males of the species have much larger antennae than the females.

a harmless species
The species is native, and although we do not see it as frequently as we do with common wasps, our faithful companions in campsites and swimming pools during the summer have always been with us. They have nothing to do with the Asian wasp and are easily distinguishable because the velutina or Asiatica wasp is practically black, with two dark brown or orange stripes, rarely intense yellow like the mammoth, and also because of its size: Asiatica 2 cm and mammoth from 4 to 6.
The mammoth wasp is not invasive , as is the Asian wasp.
It is usually not aggressive and if it is not disturbed or manipulated, it should not give any kind of problem.
The Granada Local Police published a tweet in which they tried to eliminate possible alarms from the population due to the sighting of manut wasps, and in which they tried to dissuade them from attacking it by mistaking it for the Asian one.
#Info #Wasps
We have been informed of several cases of megascolias, also called mammoth or giant wasps. They are quite large but they do not usually bite. The Vespa Velutina or Asian Vespa is dangerous because it is an invasive species, not because its bite is fatal. pic.twitter.com/ikzb9lbivL
– Granada Local Police (@Policia_Granada) August 23, 2018

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