Which wasp?

[diggleken]

Hi,
this was taking wood to nest build today here in the south pennines, but I cant weigh up which wasp it is, so grateful for any help.
No clearer face shots, too high up to get, sorry............

Common, german, norwegian, tree, what - confused!
Cheers
Ken

[JRsbugs]

Difficult one Ken!

The appears to be no extra yellow spots below the two showing which are well spread apart, suggesting Vespula vulgaris if it actually had the extra yellow spots. The abdomen pattern is close to Dolichovespula worker, the hairy thorax seems to fit too but I wouldn't take that as a positive feature.

There looks to be a long gap between the bottom of the eye and the mandibles although the mandibles don't look very long I don't think we are seeing the full length. The small well defined yellow area at the side of the eye seems to fit D. sylvestris.

On balance, it fits D. sylvestris more than any other.

Janet

[Jason Green]

Afternoon Ken,

I agree with Janet's possible ID. Still, on account of the coverage of hair I'd go with a queen (seen no workers yet, abdominal pattern being often variable).

Take care,

Jason

[diggleken]

Thanks a lot again Janet - my favourites were tree and norwegian - it was indeed on a tree ().
I suspect D. sylvestris poss is the best we can do with this - I go to this site regularly though - I'll keep my camera eye open and see if I can find one there again.
Cheers
Ken
edit - cheers Jason for confirming the likely candidate - I did read that chunky queens are a good bet at this early stage in the year.
K.