[mekeceze]

Hi, I am In the south of Spain, and this guy looks real nasty. (when he's not swimming with the fishes!).

About 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length, flys pretty slow, with very little noise. My family are scared to death of them, so it would be great to get an ID.

[Tammie]

Originally Posted by mekeceze

Hi, I am In the south of Spain, and this guy looks real nasty. (when he's not swimming with the fishes!).

About 1 1/2 to 2 inches in length, flys pretty slow, with very little noise. My family are scared to death of them, so it would be great to get an ID.

Sorry, I can't help you with an ID but I get the shivers looking at this critter and knowing how big it is! Yikes!!

[KCFoggin]

Hi there and a very warm welcome to you from the entire staff here at Bird Forum.

Your critter certainly looks formidable and I don't blame your family one bit for their reticents if it is as big as you say it is. Hopefully someone will see this shortly and be able to I.D. it for you.

[mekeceze]

Thanks for the welcome KC...
...I look forward to any help anyone can give!

[harry eales]

Hello Mekeceze,
I cannot be of much help, but it is a wasp, probably a solitary species, although what species I cannot say. Nothing as big as that occurs here in England.

Harry Eales.

[mekeceze]

No, I remember!! I have re-assesd the size however, I am in "shock the family back home" mode still, and they are probibly smaller than my original estimate, so I apologise, but they are definately, between 1 and 1 1/2 inches.

The sun is back here now, so there will be plenty more about. I will try and get a better picture. Maybe pay one of the kids to pose with one for me!! (fat chance). Its the way that you can't hear them which is the biggest problem.


This is a great forum, and full of so many good, helpful people. I wonder why we left for Spain in the first place!

[mekeceze]

also get thiese little beggars in the house. Nasty sods....rear up when you try to get them out. I beleive they can give quite a bite.]

[Tammie]

Originally Posted by mekeceze

also get thiese little beggars in the house. Nasty sods....rear up when you try to get them out. I beleive they can give quite a bite.]

I can handle spiders and stuff but this??? I don't think so!!!

[AnnieW]

Originally Posted by mekeceze

also get thiese little beggars in the house. Nasty sods....rear up when you try to get them out. I beleive they can give quite a bite.]

I think this may be the same beast referred to in this thread ......

http://birdforum.net/showthread.php?t=12013

There's a picture here :

http://tolweb.org/tree/eukaryotes/an...colopendra.jpg

[very boring banned member]

The wasp is Sceliphron destillatorium from family Sphecidae. The centipede possibly is the largest European, Scolopendra cingulata, whose bite can be dangerous.

[mekeceze]

Nice one Karwin....that looks like the guilty party...both of them. Will have to make sure the kids wear shoes this summer. It also accounts for these dotted aroung the rafters!

[very boring banned member]

...Tervetuloa to BF. Interesting fauna You have there.

[Joern Lehmhus]

Agreed, I come to the same ID´s as you, Karvin!
The wasp Sceliphron destillatorium does only sting people if for example they sit on them or hold them in their hands. This occurs only very very rarely and although the sting hurts, it is harmless. The larvae are fed spiders ; the adult females paralyse the spiders with their sting and put them into a little cell made from mud and place the egg inside the cell with the paralysed spiders as provision.

The centipede is is much more poisonous; the bites hurt and are quite harmfull. but they also do only bite if they are hurt or feel extremely threatened and can´t get away.

Jörn

[mekeceze]

thankyou everyone for your help...and thanks Jörn, I can assure the family not to worry about the wasp.

I don't want everyone to thing its all nasty critters over here...there are some fantastic specimins, I have attached a couple of examples, although I am a little ashamed of the photo quality. It is not really my thing.

The first a fantastic dragonfly, (if you can make it out!), and the second a praying mantis. I have no idea of their IDs, but they are great to see.

[very boring banned member]

Mantis is scientifically Mantis religiosa, the dragonfly I leave to someone who knows insects

-I lately read that Mantis does no harm to humans - haven't tried it, but will do when I next time get a chance (not around in my latitudes).

[CJW]

I'm struggling to get any real detail on the dragonfly but it looks like either Emperor or Lesser Emperor. Probably the former.

[mike coleman]

I agree, the dragonfly looks like an emperor. Mantids can cause injury, but only by mistake. If you have one on you, and you don't want it on you, my advice is lift it off gently, don't brush it off, as they have a 'hold-on' mechanism which means you'll get a nasty cut......

[very boring banned member]

Originally Posted by mikebirdart

Mantids can cause injury, but only by mistake. If you have one on you, and you don't want it on you, my advice is lift it off gently, don't brush it off, as they have a 'hold-on' mechanism which means you'll get a nasty cut......

Have You (or anyone) personal experiences with this? Just curious.

[mekeceze]

Not physically.....in the summer if we are sat outside on an evening they have flown in towards the lights, but none have landed on us yet, thankfully. The one in the picture was just ambling through our greenery....

The ones flying have generally beeen brown, a different species or just adults, I don't know.

I will be sure to tell you if I have a close encounter this summer, but more than likely, instinct will take a swift swipe at it if it comes anywhere near any of us!! I will try to remain calm and put the theory to the test.

[mekeceze]

....heres another specimen found amoungst some boxes...looks harmless enough, very extravagent form though...and I'm not sure which end is which! can anyone ID?

[Joern Lehmhus]

Hi Mekeceze;
it is Scutigera coleoptrata;
common in the mediterranean and harmless to humans; also a centipede, related to the Scolopendra cingulata shown earlier in this thread. The head is on the side with the smaller legs. It hunts smaller arthropods, especially insects (even flies).

[jonafly]

Just a remark:
In dutch Sceliphron destillatorium is called 'Slingerkont', which literally means something like 'swinging/dangling behind'. Since I've never seen one I wonder, is this an appropiate name?

André Jas

[Joern Lehmhus]

Hi André,

Yep;
I can imagine where that comes from .
It is probably the shape of the abdomen, which has a long thin mainly yellow part and an end part which is much thicker, shorter, oval shaped and black. In flight the abdomen is just hold straight backwards.

Another possible explanation:Or because they have the habit to fly with dangling legs sometimes?

[mike coleman]

Originally Posted by Karwin

Have You (or anyone) personal experiences with this? Just curious.

Better late than never in my reply. Yep, I spent a long time in Asia (admittedly a different species of mantid), and it was a fairly common thing, the scratching of human flesh by clingy stickies......if you see what I mean.

[mekeceze]

You are right Joern, the most striking thing about the Sceliphron destillatorium,apart from the obviously fearsome appearance, is when flying the legs just hang limply below. That would make the dutch name very appropriate!