Did this wasp hiberate in my car?

[werdnal]

Had a beautiful warm sunny day here (thats if you could get out of the cold wind). Parked car in full sun whilst I did our weekly supermarket shop. When I got back in about an hour later there was a huge wasp in the car. Larger than the normal wasps you see in the summer - could it have been a queen?

We had a wasps nest in the hedge at the end of our garden last summer, and my car is parked alongside this hedge. Could the wasp have crawled into the heater intake and spent the winter, before the warmth brought it 'round today?

I let it out and it went on its merry way - I hope it copes with the wet stormy day we have forecast on Sunday!

[aeshna5]

It was definitely a queen- the only caste around at the moment + the size confirms that.

Sounds probable that it overwintered somewhere in the car given the proximity of your parked vehicle to a known wasp nest last summer.

Let's hope she finds somewhere to settle down safely.