Dear John, thank you for contacting us. Luckily, this is not the Asian giant hornet, but a harmless wood wasp, the pigeon tremex, Tremex columba. The long “stinger” is a drill for boring through the bark of broadleaved trees such as cottonwoods and laying eggs underneath. The larvae develop under the bark and bore into the wood of very stressed, dying, or recently dead trees. Thank you, Helmuth Rogg

Helmuth Rogg
Aug. 6, 2020, 12:15 a.m.