Which wasp?

[jeremiah]

Which wasp is this, please? It wasn't very big, so I assume it's a worker.

The markings don't exactly match any of the illustrations in my insect book, though some of them could belong to the common, median or cuckoo wasps.
I don't have a picture of its face, sorry.

[Dogghound]

I suspect this is Vespula germanica

[jeremiah]

I missed vespula germanica. In my book germanica has the "diamond" at the top of the abdomen, but very distinct and separate dots on the rest of the abdomen, not bands like this one.

That makes it four wasps it could be.

[Dogghound]

Abdominal markings are best used as a guide and not a means of ID. The diamond marking is common in V.germanica which is what I based my suggestion on. Its definately a Vespula species.

[jeremiah]

So is it the facial markings that are definitive? They always seem to be head down in a flower when I see them...

[eucera]

There are a number of characters used to separate V. germanica workers from those of V. vulgaris. Facial and abdominal patterns, genal stripes and the nature of the humeral stripe are often helpful, but seldom definitive. Ideally, one should use a suite of characters before reaching a determination.

The most consistent character is to look at the black stripe extending upwards from the antennal socket to the upper portion of the eye. In V. vulgaris this stripe is broad throughout its length, but in V. germanica it is narrowed medially.

Unfortunately, most of the characters one needs are not on display in this photo, but the abdominal markings on T2-T5 would suggest V. vulgaris to me

[JRsbugs]

Doesn't Vespula vulgaris consist of a group of subspecies?

Somewhere between Vespula vulgaris f. pseudogermanica and the typical form seems to fit, I've had some like this.

Janet

[jeremiah]

Do they interbreed, then?

(Even more confused now - when I was in primary school there were only two wasps, Common and German, I remember having to draw them but can't remember the differences.)

Thank you everybody for your suggestions, anyway.

[eucera]

No hybridisation... and forget subspecies in this case. Some people enjoy giving every different colour variation a scientific name. One researcher I know even described several different subspecies coming out of the same nest!

The wasp in the pic is either V. vulgaris (more likely in imho) or V. germanica.