– I caught a big bastard on film. It was approx. four centimeters long, and followed me calmly for 50 meters on a walk with the dogs. Then it flew away and hung by the trunk of a pine and fluttered violently with its large wings.
This is how an Oslo resident writes to Dagbladet about his first encounter with the so-called monster wasp at Ekeberg in early July.
Geithams is the Norwegian name for Europe’s largest wasp with the Latin species name Vespa crabro linneaus.
But no wonder most people miss the name. It was away from Norwegian nature for almost a hundred years. Last seen in 1911 before it reappeared in Eidskog in Hedmark and Trøgstad in Østfold in 2011.
BACK AFTER 100 YEARS: Southeastern Norway is currently the terrarium of the monster wasp, with the original Norwegian name geithams until it disappeared in 1911. Map: Species databank.
sea view
Twice as big
Susanne Sveen Nesfeldt in Gjøvik’s neighboring municipality Søndre Land wondered what happened when she heard a deep humming sound in the hallway of the house and saw a large insect perched on a jacket.
A fly swatter became the fate of the goat hamster.
– We have lived here for six years, and never seen it before. But now it shows up often. Recently, someone came in the kitchen window and aimed at a plate of lasagna. We see it on flowers and around our horses. It is clearly looking for the micro-life around horse manure, says Sveen Nesfeldt to Dagbladet.
Found tick-eating parasitic wasp
– How big is the giant wasp?
– The first thought about it in the house was five centimeters. I took a picture of it and a regular wasp. It was probably twice as big.
Now there are more and more observations of the giant wasp. The core area is from Ringebu in Gudbrandsdalen and south. And from Agder / Telemark and east towards the Swedish border.
It has previously been observed as far north as Dovre and west to Sogn og Fjordane.
sea view
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Twice as big
– Geithamsen is active in the evening, unlike ordinary wasps. And those who have been nearby describe it as making a dark buzzing sound. The queens are over three centimeters long, twice as big as the wasp most people know, has a section leader for pest control at the National Institute of Public HealthMari Steinert, previously stated to Dagbladet.
It is not aggressive when it does not feel threatened, like most animals and insects. But a sting can hurt and be swollen for several days. A large wasp has more venom than a “regular”.
A reader with work and living experience in Germany has experience with the great wasp from there.
– I can confirm from my own experience that the goat hamster is not aggressive. I have seen several in Germany and have not been stung yet.
The giant wasp is back
– The first time, the flying came straight towards me in his own garden. Yes, the buzzing sound is special. It was maybe 40-50 centimeters from me. Then it flew around me, the reader describes.
And adds:
– Many were scared because of the special sound when it appeared in our office in Germany. But when we opened the windows, it disappeared pretty quickly.
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