CLOSED: Big Black Waspie Thingy ;)

I wish I could get a picture of them to post, but that would be nearly impossible.

We have a small stone wall that acts as the border for the plant beds in front of our house. The problem is that for the past few days we've had four rather aggressive black "wasps" that have taken up residence in the stone wall. They are completely black (they are not bald-faced hornets, we've had those), and about an inch, and inch and a quarter in size. Their legs also seem to "dangle" when they fly, as though the bugs just don't bother to pull them up. As soon as I get within 10 feet of the wall they start flying near me and circling, I guess in an effort to get me to move on (which I do.) Something odd that I've noticed with these insects is that they seem to prefer to be in pairs, and I've noticed that often times I will see them "pirouette" around each other while they fly straight up and down. I thought at first it was a mating thing, but they only seem to do it when someone comes near the nest.

They do seem to be dormant at night. My husband went out last night and sprayed the stone wall with bug spray, but they were out first thing this morning. He said he tried to spray one individually this morning and he said "the bug laughed at me."

Any guesses as to what these guys may be? As it says by my name, I live in Rhode Island. Hubby's going to get some wasp spray tonite and try that, but we are having a party this weekend and it'll be necessary for people to walk past this wall to get into the house. Help!

And Thanks!!!

Use Carbaryl. (Read instructions on bottle. At least twice.)

It's probably the most effective, contact-killing insecticide available for home use. It *is* a contact killer. You must hit the insect with it. They will die instantly. Best time to catch them is in the evening, after they've all returned to the nest, which by the way, you haven't described. Is it a "paper" nest? Mud? A hole in the ground? A hole in the wall? Is it, "justovertherebutIdon'twanttogettooclosetoitsoIcan'tdescribeit"?

Thanks Egg_Zachtly! LOL at your asking me about the nest...actually, my answer is twofold.

1. I really can't get close enough to get a look at the nest, at least during the day. I can't get within ten feet of the wall or they start dive-bombing me.

2. The nest is somewhere within the stone wall, so I've zero clue what it looks like. Nothing protruding out of the wall as far as I can see.

Do you have any idea what these things are? I've googled and checked some of the bug files here and haven't really found them... And thanks for the Carbaryl suggestion--if hubby doesn't pick it up tonite, then we'll look for it tomorrow. :D

I saw something that sounds just like that on my sliding glass door tonight. I've never seen one entirely black.

Man, I'm glad you guys and your bugs live a loooong way from me. ;-)

LOL.

Now that I think back, the stinger area on the one I saw was not really black. It had a tiny bit of color to it on the end of the body, maybe a blackish orange or red? Nasty looking stinger and spindly legs.

Bleah.

Just thought I'd update this--I was able to kill one yesterday (sorry, but it had to be done) and after taking a good look at it and looking it up on the web it turned out to be a Great Black Wasp. A number of sites have said that they are non-aggressive--well, tell that to the four of them that sure acted that way and dive-bombed us repeatedly. I'm vegetarian and all for "live and let live" but once you a.) enter my house or b.) act aggressively towards me or my children, you're outta here. :p