Vespa

Don't look Malcolm...!!!
Looking around the garden this morning, I came across this Common Wasp (Vespula vulgaris) clinging to a garden cane.

There are three species of Wasp native to Britain, Common and German Wasps and the Hornet.  Common Wasps are normally identified by an 'anchor' shaped black mark on their face, while the German Wasp has three small black dots.  This individual however does not display the 'anchor' shape and as such confused me a little.  The other means of identification is to look at the dots on the wasp's back.  In a German Wasp, these are separate from the black stripes, but on the Common Wasp, they are joined to the stripes as can be seen in the picture above.

This wasp seemed to be having some problems as it did not move at all while I pointed my camera at it.  Maybe it was not feeling well, a problem which would be shared by Malcolm if he looks at this!