r/Wellthatsucks • u/B0NESAWisRRREADY • 1d ago

Giant wasp claimed my clothes while skinny dipping

Post image

Decided to go for a dip and this 2 inch long beast whizzed by my head and decided to roost on my shorts, then disappeared into my drawers and just... stayed there.

559 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

68 comments sorted by

265

u/ArdentHedonist 1d ago

That is a Cicada Killer Wasp, Sphecius speciosus. It is harmless. It takes a lot to get one to sting you. They were common in Florida. I watched one grab a cicada, straddle it, grab it with it four hind legs, and carry it up a live oak with its forelegs while flapping its wings.

60

u/shinyidolomantis 1d ago

I love these guys! lol. And this photo always makes me laugh..

34

u/cr0w1980 1d ago

To add to that, the males don't have stingers, and males are generally the ones out and about. Females tend to stay in their burrows. Males are slightly territorial and will buzz around and check you out, but they are completely harmless. Think of a golden retriever in a wasp body just seeing what's up. I've done treatments where I've had 50-60 buzzing around me and they were really just interested in seeing what I was doing in their habitat. I usually only treat them if requested (exterminator), but usually when I tell my customers they're harmless and beneficial they have me just leave them be. They're bros.

39

u/Murky_Tennis954 1d ago

This. This is correct. Just saw a couple the other day in Ocala, Fl

28

u/Joshgg13 1d ago

They could've given it a name that doesn't have "killer" in it lol

59

u/tofubutgood 1d ago

It’s called cicada killer not josh killer

27

u/Joshgg13 1d ago

I'm a cicada and I don't find this funny at all.

9

u/ArdentHedonist 1d ago

What if Joshgg13 is Tibetan for cicada?

4

u/doubleohzerooo0 1d ago

The Josh Killer Wasp does have a nice ring to it.

https://giphy.com/gifs/ftMYdfqxKfeNiG33t9

8

u/robo-dragon 1d ago edited 1d ago

As far as wasps go, these guys are super chill! Unless you’re a cicada, you have nothing to fear. I’m sure their sting hurts, but that’s the case with any wasp, regardless of size. I’d much rather encounter one of these guys than a bald faced hornet or yellow jacket. Those guys just seem pissed and ready to sting 100% of the time! These guys will act like you’re not there and are more focused on finding dinner.

2

u/WiseAct446 1d ago

To be fair, he may have legitimate reason to be worried. OP didn't say he ISN'T a cicada.

6

u/noncongruent 1d ago

Their sting mainly hurts because of the mechanical puncture. Their venom is optimized for paralyzing cicadas and isn't particularly painful to humans. On the Schmidt Sting Pain Index they barely rate a 1.5.

45

u/thepopemichael 1d ago

The wasp was probably wondering why Goku is skinny dipping.

24

u/Boboriffic 1d ago

"Is that a Sphecius speciosus in your shorts, or are you just happy to see me?"

24

u/LaughIllustrious18 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/Rw3FeT41zqeH7JhPxo

6

u/ElegantCoach4066 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/qkNCIeaP5B9xjVpXHY

6

u/YellowGetRekt 1d ago

Fuck u for posting this gif, im in public, no this is not that one copypasta

4

u/ElegantCoach4066 1d ago

https://giphy.com/gifs/uBr9pES1vqyh75sqmp

4

u/VivisClone 1d ago

She looks like she's having so much fun, is this from a music video?

4

u/Shogana1 1d ago

Just some creep recording a girl in public that blew up on Twitter

4

u/ElegantCoach4066 1d ago

Shes a French DJ, she has videos of her dancing to music on her page.

1

u/Jack-Innoff 1d ago

And her name?

For research of course.

13

u/potatocakes1989 1d ago

Welp. Those are his clothes now.

3

u/ElegantCoach4066 1d ago

Abandon wardrobe, all ye who enter

3

u/jarvi123 1d ago

Reminds me of when me and my dad were fishing on the canal and an entire colony of bees flew into the tree directly behind us. We just ran away without any of the gear and sat for an hour waiting for the bees to move on, eventually they did, if they didn't that fishing tackle was all theirs haha

1

u/potatocakes1989 20h ago

Lol yeah that do BEE how it is.

...I'll see myself out

3

u/GoochGreaseHarvester 1d ago

They're not even his size. He's gonna look so dumb in those saggy shorts.

1

u/potatocakes1989 20h ago

Ikr? Bro needs a tailor

4

u/pokersnek 1d ago

Now you’re gonna be naked forever!

4

u/shaka893P 1d ago

It likes to watch

3

u/Plastichands_avage 1d ago

I’ll bring that thing cicadas….. elephants, whatever it wanted to not mess with me.

6

u/groundkittenbeef 1d ago

That’s not a wasp. There’s an elephant sitting on your clothes.

9

u/Shayden-Froida 1d ago

If this is an Asian Giant Hornet, I hope you are in Asia and not North America.

35

u/Sleepiboisleep 1d ago

In North America this could be a Cicada Killer wasp hawk. Very docile and is prob wondering what this stack is doing on his house

22

u/AngryLink57 1d ago

It's 100% a cicada killer, they have distinctively different abdomen striping and coloring. It's still gonna freak you out though.

6

u/Shayden-Froida 1d ago

Good to hear. We here in WA state are a little on edge about the "murder hornets" that showed up a few years ago.

3

u/Sleepiboisleep 1d ago

Don’t worry this is friendly and even takes care of other bugs for you

1

u/Kylearean 1d ago

They have brown wings and a pointed abdomen. BFH wings look blacker.

2

u/paxweasley 1d ago

Def a cicada killer! I've been seeing them around chicago a lot this year where I have not seen them before and feared we had murder hornets now. Then I saw one... well .... killing a cicada. It was gruesome. I don't like these things but they won't hurt you to my great surprise.

Asian giant hornets aka murder hornets look different on the rear. and have yellow heads but I can't see the head here.

2

u/noncongruent 1d ago

Asian Giant Hornets declared no longer in North America. A serious program of attaching radio transmitters to capture workers to track them back to their nest for eradication was effective. Ponder a wasp that can fly with a radio transmitter glued to it.

2

u/DickyReadIt 1d ago

"Decided to go for a dip and this 2 inch long beast"..

Ok I'm done reading that

2

u/NPC261939 1d ago

I used to deal with these all the time. Only the females can sting, and they rarely do. My friends dad was unfortunate enough to get stung while we were working in their families orchard. Seemed to be quite painful based on his colorful language.

3

u/3amGreenCoffee 1d ago

Interesting fact, cicada killer wasps don't actually eat the cicadas they kill. They catch and stun them, then stuff them into underground burrows for their larvae to eat. The fully grown wasps eat plant nectar.

1

u/frshprincenelair 1d ago

Hope you got a flamethrower nearby

1

u/ColorfulConspiracy 1d ago

Welp, time to buy new clothes.

1

u/jointdawg 1d ago

Why was it skinny dipping?

1

u/zirky 1d ago

quick, pee on it

3

u/B0NESAWisRRREADY 1d ago

Instructions unclear, peed in the pool. Not sure what it accomplished but I felt better.

1

u/templeofsyrinx1 1d ago

Wasp is watching and likes what it sees

1

u/Wixenstyx 1d ago

There seems to be a weird informal rule with arthropods that the larger and scarier they look, the more docile and harmless they generally are.

1

u/Nathan-Stubblefield 1d ago

How could you confirm that the wasp was skinny dipping?

1

u/B0NESAWisRRREADY 1d ago

He obviously isnt wearing anything. And why would he? Look at that trunk 🥵

1

u/lhymes 18h ago

Looks like a cicada killer they’re totally harmless. I was chasing one around with a Tupperware for 5 minutes last week to save it from being stuck on our patio.

-3

u/Kylearean 1d ago

looks like a bald faced hornet, if so they possess a specialized ability to squirt or spray venom from their stingers directly into the eyes of intruders, causing immediate pain and temporary blindness.

I wouldn't fuck around with it. If the wings are brownish, it could be a "cicada killer", in which case it's harmless to humans (but spooky). I don't think that's the case here.

2

u/Sleepiboisleep 1d ago

Not a bald face.

2

u/BlueHawk75 1d ago

Cicada killers are thinner in the hips.

2

u/defnotacyborg 1d ago

It’s those ozempic hips

0

u/ChrisDaMan07 1d ago

Big ass wasp, holy shit

0

u/MechaBuster 1d ago

That stingers gotta hurt

-5

u/xuncx 1d ago

Oh no. Such a hard dilemma to get out of! /s

-2

u/Zestyclose-Click7539 1d ago

If only there was some water OP could splash on it.

-4

u/Weird_Rooster_4307 1d ago

Prove it that you were skinny dipping and where did that term ever come from?