Hello. I recently (October) saw this very same Hornet in Northern NJ, and I've never seen it before. Aside from that, it was approximately 3 INCHES LONG, and very large. Is this a normal size and location for this type of insect? I'm fascinated by the size of it. It was alone and very aggressive. Any comments are welcomed! Thanks!!

that would be about the normal size of a European Hornet, perhaps queen, i am not very sure of their range, but it is likely you have them in your area... they are an introduced species not native to north america. in fall, what you saw probably would have been a queen or drone, if it was acting pretty aggressive, perhaps a male... but i think social wasps are pretty mean in general, compared to solitary wasps anyway. i hope that comes close to answering your questions.

thanks very much for the quick response. I just found it interesting that in all the years I've lived here, I've never seen one....and I've never seen any wasp/hornet/etc this large before. One last question: Where to they typically nest? This hornet was buzzing back and forth between my grill (under the cover) and around my rooftop/attic opening - Should I be concerned?

but I rarely see one

They are also quite scarce and local in the vicinity of Ithaca, NY, and I never saw one ever

your level of concern my be directly proportional to the amount you use your attic, as that is a likely place for these wasps to build a nest. if you click on the info tab at the top of the page you can read some more about this species... at any rate you might want to check your attic come spring to see if you have any guests.

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thank you Dr. Ascher, they are fairly new to my area, at any rate i do not see them that often.