Ropalidia marginata is a primitively eusocial wasp lacking morphological differentiation between queens and workers.  Each colony is headed by a single egg-layer (queen) who, unlike in other primitively eusocial species, is a strikingly docile and behaviorally non-dominant individual. Experimental removal of the queen immediately results in one of the workers becoming extremely aggressive. If the queen is not returned, this individual becomes the next queen. We refer to such individuals as “Potential Queens”. The identity and characteristics of potential queens are of obvious interest. However we are unable to predict the potential queen before removing the queen. In other words, the potential queen is not a unique individual based on her behavior, body size, age or even ovarian development, during the tenure of the previous queen. Nevertheless we can show experimentally that even though we cannot identify her, there is a “cryptic potential queen” who alone is acceptable to all the members of her colony and in whose presence no other individual can become the next queen.