Seen these 3 occasionally for weeks. Nests of the hornets must be far away. They're big. They lumber. But they lumber fast and erratically and rarely land. So could only get the first two in flight after many missed shots. They look like they could be related, but they have me coming and going so we'll see. One appears yellow, the other blue. Lucky to get all 3 today, after so long a time. Actually, until I saw these photos on the screen I didn't realize that two different insects were involved. Very hard to decipher them in flight. And they're always in flight.
There are 'patrolling yellowjackets' everywhere now, including in this Girl's territory. Whenever they passed in flight this girl appeared to tackle the 'jacket' and they would fall the foot or so to the ground, then immediately take flight and continue. Sparring partners? It happens so fast not sure just what is going on or why.
>>>I identify this as a Queen from Betz, 1932 . See attached figure .