Anyone know this hornet or wasp?

Some of you more diehard bug fans might be mad, but I had to kill this guy. He was huge and sitting right next to my beer last weekend, it kind of freaked me out. So my wife got a can of hornet and wasp spray and this brings us to this shot.

Does anyone know what it is? I have never seen one myself, other than this.

It is a Cicada Killer Wasp. Just saw 100s of them in a 50 square foot garden at the Missouri Botanical Gardens last week. They are fairly common in the Midwest around this time of year.

I understanding the feelings toward them - they are huge (can get to 1.75 inches long). My wife and son were really freaked out walking through that section of the gardens. Fortunately, the female wasp will leave humans alone, and the male wasp really will only sting when looking to mate, and is provoked.

Kurt

P.S. Nice picture.

It's a nice shot Travis, interesting wasp. You really didn't have to kill it though, you could have simply got up and walked away and found another table. I'm always fascinated by mans 'must kill' attitude instead of walking away. Several people I know have the same attitude, must be a human psychological thing that I simply can't fathom.

Dave