Hello Queenie

I had just returned from a 7km run in the wind, dark and drizzle, and was just settling in to do some research on hybrid bicycles - if we get a cycle to work scheme I rather fancy one rather than my good but slow Decathlon MTB for road rides - when I heard a rather out of place buzzing, and the familiar sound of an insect headbutting a lightbulb.

I looked up, and rather than the moth I was somehow expecting, I saw a large wasp orbiting the hot light source for as long as it could, before plummeting to the carpet.

It must have followed me in from outside.

For a wasp to be alive this time of year, it must surely be a queen, the size also suggested that this was no mere drone. I photographed its lightly furry body, then turned the light off to still it, before trapping it and releasing outside in the hope it would go back to sleep again once it found a suitable spot.

Bad night for a buzzer, I'm afraid.

Si

All text and images copyright CreamCrackeredNature 27.01.17