?Wasp.

great shot but wouldnt like a sting from this guy lol

Great photo,he looks very big......

Great picture but keep clear away from him!

Super Close Up Newf :)

What a wonderful pic of a beautiful insect.

Great close up Newfie...he looks a determined sort of chap !

Nice shot - beautiful moth!

Whoa, it looks big enough to carry you off! lol.

Moth ?

Moth?

Copy cat!

Moth!
:)
Similar to the one shown at http://www.hornissenschutz.de/hornet_moth.htm

Thanks all for the comments.
Looks like you're right, Rosalie..I checked the site, seems like that's what it is!

Kind of nice that it's beautiful but non vicious.. :)

Guess I was shaking for nothing...lol.

Thanks for the information Rosaliea.
I haven't checked the website but have looked it up in my insect book and found it. I think it's a Hornet Clearwing. I knew it looked a little different to our wasps but put it down to locality. I should have noticed the antenna though as are very different to a wasp's.

Thanks for all the information Rosaliea and Toto ! Had to look really closely to see that it truly is a moth !

Nice one, does difinitely look like a wasp at first glance, nice defense I suppose. I thought that it's body looked more featherey rather than shiny like a wasp.

This is really interesting thanks Rosalie never knew such things existed and apparently they are widespread and in UK too..next time get buzzed by hornets will relax now knowing they are only moths and cant hurt me ..lol

This is brilliant - how on earth are we supposed to know whether to 'fight or flight' ? This reminds me of the first time I saw a large bee fly - I ran indoors screaming for help, I was really scared.