Manhattan, New York County, New York, USA August 7, 2008 Size: 1.5"
This insect visited me on my terrace. It wasn't at all aggressive and it also did not seem skiddish. I was thinking hornet. It has a huge set of mandibles I think, clear smokey wings, very large alien/teardrop shaped eyes, and several times it turned it's rear toward me and moved it in circles, kinda squirming. At one point I thought that it might have been molting or something because that is how the movement looked.