From August’s hall of fame: a giant hornet.
(I’m highlighting notable sights of the past year’s blogging.)
Since then I’ve seen these giants both in multiples and more frequently, in both Green-Wood and Woodlawn Cemeteries. Are they expanding in the city or am I just paying more attention?
The last two summers, I saw solitary examples of a very large, yellow-abdomened wasp in Green-Wood. They moved constantly, never staying still long enough to be photographed. Last summer I identified them as European Hornets, Vespa Crabro; the species has been in North American since at least 1840.
This summer, I finally found one hanging around. They will take larger prey, but this one caught and dispatched a Honey Bee (Apis mellifera; another Eurasian species). Worth opening up this image for a larger view if you have the stomach for it.
They use their powerful jaws to chew up wood to make paper nests, rather like our Bald-faced Hornets. That means this bee got chomped up pretty quickly in those choppers. 
The wasp is hanging by its hind two legs as it maneuvers the bee around with its other four legs. It was quick work.
These Vespa
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Backyard and Beyond 
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