if you are lucky it was a cicada killer wasp. they are monstrous but pretty harmless. some of the bug identification sites even doubt stories of them stinging people.

This happens to me all the time. And I have a phobia of things that buzz. And since it's 120,000 degrees Fahrenheit here, the wasps enjoy hovering around my window. Needless to say, I have invested in many, many cans of bug repellent.

I know EXACTLY how you feel with giant bugs, especially wasps. Except in my case, I fell off my bike in surprise.

Quite refreshing to see an Ananth-freaking-out-at-something comic!... Even if it is something worth freaking out at- OH GOD WHY DID YOU SEND THE WASP AFTER ME?! D:

I read that sentence about someone experimenting on wasps and I immediately thought that Ananth would make an amazing Wasp-Man. Like Spider-Man, but for Wasps.

I like how Ananth's bike helmet is a modified version of his ballcap. Very clever!

Sounds like you had a run-in with a Cicada Killer. And yes those things are bigger than they have any right to be. Used to have one that patrolled around my garage all the time!

Carpenter Bees, which are huge beyond reason, have been out in droves this summer here in Wisconsin. I'd barely even heard of them before, and now they're everywhere! They have a behavior where they hover in front of you and stare you down. It's very unnerving. Maybe that's what you saw.

This has happened to me. I spent the first moments shaking my shirt with one hand while inadvertently wobbling my bike all over the place with the other. The next moments were spent jumping off my bike taking my shirt off and throwing it onto the ground. And then the last moments were spent embarrassed, putting it back on.

I've got a nice little phobia of bees, wasps, and hornets so it was a pretty bad experience.

yeah, those can be freaky when huge, regardless of whether or not they sting...

I once did a zazen retreat where wasps had made hives under the temple awnings and were flying in and out of the meditation room. Imagine trying to keep still and achieve a clear, empty mind in that situation -_-;

Well.....it could have been worse....Imagine if instead of the wasp it had been this bad boy;

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8azUs0Y-i5I&feature=youtu.be

Mike

I like how Yuko drew the wasp as big as your mouth, but you still want it bigger.

see. see. i'm not the only one that goes batshit insane when anything with a stinger comes within a ten foot radius of me. i never run faster. i think it's genetic, after having seen my entire family run in the same direction/pace from said stingees. eeeeek

I totally know the feeling. I have a phobia of flying insects.

Also, my grandma was allergic to bees. When my mom was little, Grandma was driving and one landed on the passenger side window. Grandma almost jumped out of the car, while it was moving.

My mom had to grab her to keep from jumping out.

At least it wasn't a Dallas roach. They're like hersheys bars with legs.

If it was a cicada killer wasp, be grateful that she lives nearby! She's scary looking as hell, I know because I'm sharing a shivery existence with one nesting near my house. She's a really good bug though; she's killing all of the cicadas that are feasting on my poor tulip poplar trees!

Oh, just so you know, the males of her species don't even have a stinger at all. They're just really big. The females can be (gently) handled, and even if they DO sting, they have a short stinger that's suited for bug killing and not much else. Here's a link so you can check it out.

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

Really, I would have died. Anything that flies at you while your biking is a potential for disaster.

This correctly describes wasps, I think (includes expletives): http://thecheesegrater.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/wasp.jpeg

There is actually a Japanese Giant wasp that basically is the size of a palm. It secretes a pheromone attracting its entire nest to the target, which is usually a bee hive, and then proceeds to continuously sting and kill the ENTIRE hive.

In Humans the sting causes a necrotic-like effect, causing the skin to rot/dissolve. It also attacks the nervous system inducing a lot of pain.
That's just one sting.

Fun stuff. . .fun fun stuff indeed.
"I didn't want to know!" (Hermes Conrad)

Oh my God wasp stories. I was recently out at my family's country home, and there were like, wasps everywhere. Big fat countryside yellowjackets. The kind that EAT PEOPLE. I didn't go outside until we left. I HAVE A PHOBIA OKAY IT'S NOT MY FAULT.

I believe giant wasps are usually called hornets.

Dudes. Re: mouseover text.
FYI. Wasps? Not bros. May be acting all friendly like, but they be trollin'. Check it:

http://trekphan.tumblr.com/post/6444555517/chroniclady-wasps-are-bastard...

100 kilobytes of truth right there.

Also, Ken's Cheesegrater link is broken, but I found the original it linked to on Obvious Winner anyway, and it's about as accurate. Unless, of course, you have a can of RAID handy, or you've got yourself covered in a particular synthetic fragrance (I can't remember if it was banana, coconut or strawberry at this point) which sends them freakin' nuts: http://www.obviouswinner.com/obvwin/2010/3/25/this-is-a-wasp.html

Viginia Tech must be doing similar experiments. My sister and I were chased around by a bee the size of a baseball in a VT parking lot. o.o It also had a slightly smaller wasp sidekick.

Eessh that's a huge wasp. Being a total loser (who is more impressed by a centipede then the entirety of a state park) I find myself liking bugs and such. I like little bumble bees. They are nature's asian business man.(is that bad to say?) Oh yeah, and they give me honey. But wasps, nasty things.
I also found out that they are attracted to glitter. (outside wearing glitter wings, and the wasp took a liking to the wings....)

That is just like me! There were two bees next to me on a bus once and nearly jumped over the passenger next to me to get away from them. Then I moved a row back until someone caught them in a cup

I've been seeing these scary-looking monsters in and around the Prospect Heights area of Brooklyn, so yeah, I believe you.

Oh gosh, I was just walking to the library in Prospect Heights, and YOU ARE TOTALLY RIGHT. I saw TWO of these enormous wasps. Some crazy scientist somewhere is definitely up to no good.

for some reason the house we live in currently(we are moving but it has nothing to do with this) Is a wasp magnet. We had bunch of dirt dobbers trying to build a nest on our front porch (then the wasps killed them and took over ) and we had them try to build a nest upstairs. (they got in because we have horrid air conditioning up there and we had to put air conditioner up there and the wasps got in through a gap in the window.) they attempted to build a nest in a statue we had out front and they built a nest in a pair of rain boots that we keep next to the front door in case of floods. You almost can't walk (or rather run) without seeing one....... Anyways awesome comic, and hopefully you don't run into mega wasp again

If they're importing suzumebachi we're ALL fucked. They're as big as that drawing, but with big fat heads for ripping you apart if you let them.. >_<

I had a bee chase me and my mother for like, ten minutes down a walking trail the other day. It just wouldn't give up! We finally killed it with a baseball hat. We walk in the mornings, so we were DEFINITELY wide awake after that!

My contribution to all these wasp and bee and hornet stories: I personally never really had a problem with them until recently; however, now I have wasps of some sort that live outside my family's new apartment that somehow crawl through an unidentified hole in one of the rooms' walls and manage to get inside our apartment every few weeks or so.

I was mortified by them before, but despite all I've heard about wasps being mean sons of bitches who sting humans without a thought, these seem to actually try to avoid human contact. My dad's just smacks them between his hands to kill them; they still freak me out if he's not around to rid of them, though.

Ugh... Just one more reason to continue my vendetta against the Vespidae family of insects. Seriously though, I used to live in south Florida (big roaches, among other things), so I generally don't mind bugs too much if they don't directly antogonize me. Every time I visit my family over the summer though, some damn assortment of wasps decide to start making nests outside of the uncomfortably permeable screen door that provides most of my room's ventillation. My advice: RAID and poisoned traps.

Ananth, what you may have seen is a cicada killer wasp. They're huge, but tend not to bother you unless you start making cicada noises. Then they will grab you mid-air, snap your neck, drag you down into their underground lair, and lay eggs in you. Or something.

Maybe the poor guy just wanted to hitch a ride. He was saying in his wasp way "Hey man, thanks for the lift. Hey why're you swerving all over the place and screaming? You're nuts, I'm outta here"

Wasps and bees are pretty much the only bugs I truly hate, having been stung by one on my first day of grade one. Last week, a wasp managed to get into my car and the entire drive home was a panic attack because IT JUST WOULDN'T LEAVE!