Vespa, Linnaeus, 1758

Carpenter, James M., Dvořák, Libor, Kojima, Jun-Ichi, Nguyen, Lien T. P., Perrard, Adrien & Pickett, Kurt M., 2010, Taxonomic Notes on the Vespinae of Yunnan (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), American Museum Novitates 2010 (3709) : -

GENUS VESPA

Vespa hekouensis Dong and Wang, 2003: 407 , fig. 2, female (Kunming [= Kunming Institute of Zoology, Academia Sinica]).

Described from a single female, collected in 1998.XI.11, and compared to Vespa parallela André and V. maguanensis Dong. Vespa parallela was universally treated as a subspecies of V. analis Fabricius since Bequaert (1939), until more recently sunk as a synonym of V. analis (Carpenter and Kojima, 1997; Archer, 1998a). Dong (2001) had earlier recognized V. parallela as a subspecies of V. analis when describing V. maguanensis , and the later change in status was not explained.

Diagnostic characters

Body length 32 mm; short and robust. A sample of specimens of V. analis in the AMNH (n = 10), IEBR (n = 10), IUNH (n = 22), LDC (n = 6), MNHN (n = 9) and TARI (n = 8) had a range in length of 18.6–37.1 mm, where length is taken from the head to the tip of the metasoma (see discussion under Vespula gongshanensis ). The MNHN sample included four specimens of the series from Yunnan described by du Buysson (1903, 1905) as Vespa nigrans , which was treated as a subspecies of V. analis by Bequaert (1939).

Clypeus with narrow emargination; median process short. The size of the median process is known to be variable within V. analis (Bequaert, 1939: 37; van der Vecht 1957: 4), even occasionally being “small or rudimentary.” The relative size of the process therefore cannot be used as a diagnostic feature. The perceived width of the clypeal emargination is affected by the size of the process, and Dong and Wang’s (2003) figure 2c shows little difference from V. maguanensis (Dong, 2001: fig. 1) in this regard.

OOD/IOD = 0.4 [OOD = ocellar-ocellar distance; IOD = eye-ocellar distance.]; OCD/ OOD = 6 [OCD = ocellar-occipital distance.]. A sample of specimens of V. analis in the AMNH (n = 10), IEBR (n = 10), IUNH (n = 22), MNHN (n = 9) and TARI (n = 8) had a range in these ratios of 0.29–0.44 and 3.4–8, respectively.

Flagellomere I 2.1× length of flagellomere II. A sample of V. analis in the AMNH (n = 10), IEBR (n = 10), IUNH (n = 22), MNHN (n = 9) and TARI (n = 8) had a range in this ratio of flagellomere I 1.8–2.4× length of flagellomere II.