What insect looks like a hard-shelled wasp and is black in color with one yellow stripe down the middle of it's back?

I'm guessing; Smooth (no hair) with three distinct sections; head, body, & tail. Distinct yellow coloring on the head, body, and tail. The tail is yellow striped. I cannot tell you exactly without seeing the bug. There are way too many varieties; each with very distinctive markings. Even if I saw it I might not be able to zero in on it. I'm researching one now that I've never seen before.

In any case, this bug your asking about sounds like either a variety of wasp, or hornet; perhaps a yellow jacket wasp or paper wasp or maybe even a variety of hornet. It is definitely in that family and I'm guessing that the bug your asking about is aggressive.

The only two ways, that I know of to get rid of them is Wasp & Hornet Insecticide or destroy the nest. The only sure way is to destroy the nests. If they are building their nest around your house and it is not visible; for instance they are coming from behind your siding - you will need to get to that place and destroy the nest. It can be an aggravating problem but if you can destroy all the nests you just might get on top of the problem, but to often they just find a new place to build their nest if you don't kill all of them; another hard thing to do. Good Luck.