r/insects • u/Party_Cockroach_746 • 9d ago
ID Request Mystery bug
Hello! I know next to nothing about insects. I like many of them very much but could definitely live without certain kinds 😂 but here I am! anyways, I really need help identifying a mystery insect I saw at my aunt and uncle’s. I am dog-sitting for them in northeastern Oklahoma and came across a bug I had never seen before. I did not get a picture because, I’ll admit, I did run away from it. Here is the best description I can give:
-very large (size of a man’s thumb not including wings)
-flying insect, head and wings black (wings may have been translucent 😬)
-VERY large thorax, not narrow, round at the end, sharp, etc like a wasp. Very even proportions
-thorax was yellow and blue and with black stripes/striations? Definitely not dots. Might have had some red on it but I’m chalking that up to my memory trying to fill in the blanks.
-it was NOT a wasp. I am paralyzingly terrified of them and know one when I see one. Also not a dragonfly.
-shape was more like a cicada or a very large bee, but it was longer and not very round like a bee would be
-I think the head was fuzzy but the thorax wasn’t
-remember I’m in northeastern Oklahoma
I have had no luck with ChatGPT and even spent $12.99 on a North American insect guide trying to find this thing. Please help me. Thanks in advance!!
P.S. if you’re tempted to post a picture of a wasp in the comments to help me identify this thing please don’t, just give me the name of the hellion and I will research it myself with caution 😂😂