Queen wasp? (1 Viewer)

A large and heavy-set looking wasp came into our house a few minutes ago. Could it be a queen looking for a place to hibernate?

I tried to take a photo, but discovered that my partner had been taking photos @ 640x480 for some reason, so you can hardly see the insect unfortunately. I didn't bother zooming in on it, assuming that the high resolution would do the job.



The abdomen in particular looked an unusual shape, larger and more tapering than a normal wasp.

Carless said:

A large and heavy-set looking wasp came into our house a few minutes ago. Could it be a queen looking for a place to hibernate?

I tried to take a photo, but discovered that my partner had been taking photos @ 640x480 for some reason, so you can hardly see the insect unfortunately. I didn't bother zooming in on it, assuming that the high resolution would do the job.

The abdomen in particular looked an unusual shape, larger and more tapering than a normal wasp.

Click to expand...

Hello Carless,

Or should that be Careless for not checking your camera settings? lol.

Your wasp certainly appeares to be one of the Social Wasps, (Vespula). At this time of year most colonies are dying out or are already dead. It's not possible to say whether your specimen in definately a Queen, there is a possibility that it is a late emerging Male, they tend to be slimmer than the Queens or Workers and, not being active in colony developement, tend to live for a fair time just feeding and 'bonking' any queens they happen across.

Sorry, can't be more helpful that that.

Harry