identify hornet-like insect of greek island Samos

[Maarten van Helden]

In article <01bc6998$a4133940$0100007f at volkerkn>, 101526.2500 at compuserve.com
said...
>
>Hi,
>my question may not fit exactly into this newsgroup, but there aren't too
>many NGs, concerning insects,- so I apologize for annoyance.
>It would be gracious, if someone could help me identify an insect, I
>observed several times on Samos (Greece) this month. I couldn't take
>a picture, so here is my incomplete description.
>
>What: coloured similar to a hornet, approximately same size or even bigger.
>Wings transparent, I couldn't see, if there's colour at the edges, wings
>possibly shorter than abdomen. In quiet, the wings of the insect were held
>like the ones of Symphyta-wasps, not folded.
>When: Mid May, time of activity: midday in full sunshine.
>Where: Samos, phrygana at the eastern coast.
>Activity: collecting nectar or pollen from cistus specs., good and fast
>flyer.
>The sound while flying is similar to hornet-sound, but deeper buzzing.
>
>If someone can help, please answer to this newsgroup or email directly to
>101526.2500 at compuserve.com (Volker Knierim).
>Thanx a lot.


Mmmhhh you should have been a little more exact. My guess from your
description would be a scolia (scoliidae), large parasitic hymenoptera which
are ectoparasitic on large beetle larvae like scarabs, chafers and stag
beetles.

Maarten
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||\\  //||  Dr. Maarten van Helden
|| \\// ||  Department of Entomology
||  \/  ||  Wageningen Agricultural University
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