German wasp queen ? butterfly attack

[Lord V]

A speckled wood butterfly wizzed past me closely followed by a wasp- the butterfly got tangled in a spider web but the wasp continued the attack with wings falling to the floor. The wasp eventually departed with a fair chunk of butterfly body.
Is the wasp a german wasp queen ?
Brian V.

[Dogghound]

Its a worker Dolichovespula media.

[Lord V]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Its a worker Dolichovespula media.

Thanks Dogghound - Just not used to seeing brown eyed wasps here
Brian V.

[Dogghound]

Its a cracking photo too Brian. This butterfly will be used to feed the larvae back at the nest, at this time of year the queens role is not to hunt but to produce eggs.

[Lord V]

Originally Posted by Dogghound

Its a cracking photo too Brian. This butterfly will be used to feed the larvae back at the nest, at this time of year the queens role is not to hunt but to produce eggs.

Interesting info - last time I saw a similar wasp was in April 2007 and I thought initially it was a hornet- bigger than this one but that was ID'd as a queen D. media - again it was hunting and feeding on other insects.
Brian V.

[Dogghound]

This will have been a queen feeding its larvae to build up its colony.