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(All photos can be clicked on to view full size.)

A rather scary looking creature with wings is completely and totally in love with my flowering orange mint these days. It has everyone on edge and afraid to approach this pretty plant. I have not a clue what type of wasp he might be and a Google search has not led to many leads.  Perhaps he is a Potter Wasp? He is rather skittish and flies away quickly if anyone gets close (another reason he has everyone frightened).

In the picture below you can see a bumblebee to the left and the wasp to the right. Note how much larger he is in comparison to the bumblebee which is normally the largest winged insect visiting this garden.

I hope some readers out there might be able to help me in identifying this big orange wasp. He appears to be about 2 inches long (?!). Yikes. The curious thing about him is I am only finding him on my orange mint. He is visiting no other flower in the garden which I find rather interesting.

(pictures can be clicked on to view full size.)

For more information on this little guy check out this link.