Huge stinger. What is it?

[starlight09]

During the summer, I was attacked by a huge flying insect with a huge stinger. I have no idea what it is. I was on a swing in the garden and this thing fly into the garden. The movement of the swing seemed to make it angry and come after it. I had to move off the swing to get away which then made the insect come after me. I stood still then it flew away.
It was about 3-4 inches long (stinger included), stinger was about an inch long. It was jet black, really furry with black hairless legs. On it's long tail it had orange horizontal stripes. The stinger was orange too. This orange was so bright, it looked like someone had coloured it in with neon paint. The wings were mesh-like; see through, orange laced.
I've never seen anything like it before or ever since.

[Kayleigh]

Sounds like it could be a horntail sawfly or wood wasp (Urocerus Gigas)..
the stinger is an ovipositor and does not sting the female uses it to deposit her eggs into rotten wood they are harmless creatures..
did it look like this..


On the other hand it might have been something completely different.

[dmclean2]

Looks like Kayleigh is on the right track
Good description Starlight, well done,
you have an eye for detail
Duncan

[Geoff F]

Black legs and orange 'stinger' don't exactly fit a horntail so you might also consider one of the Sirex species of sawflies or one of the many ichneumon wasps. Rhyssa persuasoria has a very long ovipositor (stinger) but still doesn't have black legs or orange ovipositor and all the black leg alternatives that I can think of are considerably smaller.

Or a very long shot, with prominent mesh like wings, how about a dragonfly.

Can you give us a clue as to which of the suggestions appears the most likely.

Either way, don't worry, it wasn't going to attack you. It probably just wondered what species of strange animal it had encountered and stopped for a better view.