Bald faced hornets, perhaps?
http://www.muenster.org/hornissensch.../baldfaced.htm

They are not aggressive unless disturbed, unlike yellow jackets, and do a
lot of good in the garden eating pests. In the fall they also feed on
fallen fruit, and are interesting to watch--you can get quite close when
they are in a rotting fruit feeding frenzy.

Cheers,
Sue

--

Zone 6, South-central PA


"Jen in Chicago" wrote in message
om...
They're living in harmony with the yellow jackets in the trees right
outside my house. They are twice as long as your average yellowjacket
(you know the kind that flies in your soda can at a picnic?) and all
black with a white face pattern. The first time I saw one I thought
it was a huge june bug, but then upon closer inspection realized it's
a wasp/hornet of some kind.

My other question is I have something eating the leaves of my tiarella
to the ground, but I don't have any Japanese Beetles this year. Any
ideas? No, caterpillars, lots of ants though. I'm near Chicago in
Zone 5.

TIA,
Inattendue