Well this was an amazing find. It is a queen European hornet (Vespa crabro) and was found this afternoon by Paul, the warden at Gosforth Park Nature Reserve, in his garden. I didn't know we had them up here as this is the distribution map on the BWARS* website.
Paul has seen one here before, several years ago, but he didn't get a photo and no-one believed him. This was very definitely real and was huge. I have seen a lot of hornet workers in the Midlands recently (more to follow) and this one was much bigger. You can see from the 5mm grid that she is about 30mm long.
After the photos the queen flew back into the woods so with luck she has already started a nest. I'll keep an eye out each time I visit, hoping to see more. It is only 2km from here as the hornet flies so I may eventually see them in the garden.
* BWARS = Bees, Wasps, and Ants Recording Society.
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