Vespa analis Fabricius, 1775, 1798

Lee, John X. Q., Soh, Zestin W. W., Chui, Shao Xiong, Leong, Andrea Q. E., Ong, Christabel N. Y. & Ascher, John S., 2023, Hornets (Vespidae: Vespinae) of Singapore: ecology, identification, and national conservation assessment, Raffles Bulletin of Zoology 71, pp. 457-477 : 466-467

Vespa analis Fabricius, 1775 Yellow-vented Hornet

( Fig. 8 )

Vespa analis Fabricius, 1775 . Systema Entomologiae, 363 - “in Cap. B. S.” [error; probably Java]

(London).

Vespa tyrannica Smith, 1857 . Catalogue of hymenopterous insects in the collection of the British Museum 5, Vesp.: 119, female - “ Singapore ” (lectotype London) - van der Vecht, 1959, Zoologische Verhandelingen 36:215 (designation of lectotype).

Vespa parallela var. Biroi du Buysson, 1905 (1904), Annales de la Société entomologique de France vol. 73:487 (key) 513, female - « Singapore » (lectotype Paris) - van der Vecht, 1957, Zoologische Verhandelingen 34:14 (designation of lectotype).

Global distribution. Bhutan; China (mainland, Hong Kong); India; Indonesia (Bali, Java, Lombok, Sumatra and nearby islands); Japan (including Ryukyu Islands); Laos; Myanmar; Malaysia (Peninsular); Nepal; Pakistan; Russia (Far East); South Korea; Myanmar; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam. Diagnosis. A medium-sized to large species, with most workers and males ranging from 22 mm to 27 mm, while queens and large workers can reach 30 mm or more in total body length. The colour form represented in Singapore is the nominate “Javan” form, with a black ground colour, often with the head posteriorly (esp. vertex and gena above), pronotum and other parts of the thorax (esp. scutellum) reddish brown ( Fig. 8A, C ). Metasoma mostly black, with the first two terga often reddish-brown to varying degrees. A faint metallic lustre is often seen on the first tergum, forming a pattern with sublateral projections at the base of the second tergum and sometimes a narrow apical band on the third tergum. Distal metasomal segment (both tergum and sternum) orangish-yellow. Wings are rather uniformly amber as opposed to dusky (especially basally) in the other local species. The other form known in Singapore only from historical records, the putative subspecies V. analis tyrannica , differs in having 1) the top of its head black while the lower half, including gena, clypeus, and mandibles, are yellow or orange, and 2) extensive apical yellow fasciae on all metasomal segments except the first forming distinct bands. Images of the specimen collected by A.R. Wallace in Singapore around 1854 are available online (https://wallace.biodiversity.online/species/A-Arth- Hexa-Hymenoptera-000041).

Materials examined. 1 female (ZRC), Singapore, coll. unknown, 1980; Bukit Timah Nature Reserve : 2 females (ZRC), coll. H. K. Lua, 16 November 1989; 1 female (ZRC), coll. Mangrove Insect Project, 12 July 2017; 1 female (ZRC), Changi Beach Park , coll. unknown, no date; Chinese Gardens : 1 female (IDL), coll. EJYS, 18 June 2014 ; 1 female (IDL), coll. J. J. L. Lai, 28 September 2015, ex. Citrus aurantiifolia ; 1 female (IDL), Choa Chu Kang Park, coll. A. Y. L. Teo, 27 October 2016; 1 female (IDL), Clementi Avenue 5, coll. K. L. Tan, 27 August 2020; 2 females (IDL), Dairy Farm Nature Park , coll. SXC, G. W. J. Low, 20 October 2015 , ex. Cratoxylum cochinchinense ; 1 female (IDL), Elias Green, coll. J. Soh, 10 Oct 2021; 1 female (ZRC), Eng Kong Garden, coll. D. Koh, 29 July 1991; 1 female (IDL), Jurong Eco-Garden, coll. A. Y. L. Teo, 2 November 2016; 1 female (IDL), Kampong Eunos, coll. M. Chai, 20 September 2021; Kent Ridge Park: 1 female (IDL), coll. JSA, SXC, G. W. J. Low, 20 October 2015 ; 1 female (IDL), coll. E. J. Y. Chan, 24 October 2017; 1 female (IDL), coll. SXC, JSA, 24 October 2017 ; 2 females (IDL), coll. LSM3265, 16 October 2018; 1 female (IDL), Mandai, coll. S. S. Y. Ow, 20 October 2017; 1 female (IDL), Marine Parade, Meyer Road Garden, coll. J. W. Phua, 21 August 2015; 1 female (IDL), Nee Soon Swamp Forest , coll. P. J. Chan, 2 October 2018 ; 1 female (IDL), Neo Tiew , coll. JSA, D. Tan, 23 February 2014 ; NUS, Bukit Timah Campus: 1 female (ZRC), coll. unknown, 6 May 1970; 3 females and 2 males (ZRC), coll. DHM, 1972 ; 1 female and 2 males (ZRC), coll. DHM, 1973 ; 1 female (IDL), NUS, Eusoff Hall, coll. T. L. Ban, 27 September 2018; 1 female (IDL), NUS, Kent Ridge Road, coll. E. Sivaprakasam, 23 October 2017; 1 female (IDL), NUS, Lower Kent Ridge Road , coll. C. H. Lee, 14 October 2016 ; 1 female (IDL), NUS, Sheares Hall, coll. B. T. M. Lim, 16 September 2015; 1 female (IDL), NUS, sports field, coll. JSA, SXC, 12 June 2014 ; Pulau Ubin: 1 female (IDL), coll. YGT, 21 September 2016 ; 1 female (IDL), coll. JSA et al., 4 December 2016 ; 1 female (IDL), coll. W. X. Bok, 27 September 2017; 1 female (ZRC), coll. unknown, no date; 1 female (ZRC), Pulau Ubin, Chek Jawa mangroves, coll. Mangrove Insect Project, 30 June 2016; 2 females, Pulau Ubin , Jalan Noordin, coll. JSA, 2 and 5 May 2022 ; Sentosa: 1 female (IDL), coll. JSA, 5 October 2013 ; 1 female (IDL), coll. G. Chow, Sankar A., H. Yeo, D. H. Y. You, 11 September 2016; 1 female (ZRC), Singapore General Hospital, coll. unknown, 5 January 1985 , ex. Ipomoea sp. ; 1 female (IDL), Small Sisters’ Island, coll. YGT, SXC, G. W. Yong, 15 January 2017 , ex. Coccoloba uvifera ; Sungei Buloh Wetland Reserve : 1 female (ZRC), coll. Mangrove Insect Project, 17 July 2013; 1 female (IDL), coll. EJYS, 22 June 2014 ; 1 female (ZRC), Tampines, coll. unknown, 29 July 1968; 1 female (IDL), Yishun Ring Road, coll. Y. T. Ang, 25 September 2016.

Remarks. A common species found across all habitats, justifying Least Concern status (see below). Often seen visiting flowers for nectar. Individuals are relatively shy and tend to fly through dense vegetation, hence the species might be under-recorded. A generalist predator on other insects and like V. affinis may be observed hunting flower-visiting insects, but does not appear to scavenge on carrion or human food. Nests are generally built in vegetation such as bushes and trees, reported from ground level to 18. 2 m above ground ( Chan, 1972), whereas the nests we have observed were usually between two and eight metres above ground ( Fig. 8B ). No records of polygynous colonies are known, even in the tropics. The embryo nest is similar to that of V. affinis in shape, including the vestibule that develops before the first workers hatch. The mature nest is also somewhat similar to that of V. affinis in structure, though it tends to be more elongated and teardrop-shaped ( Fig. 8B ) rather than pear-shaped, with a more rounded base even in larger nests. The scalloped layers on the envelope also tend to be very large and often highly contrasting in colour. Martin (1995) described nests up to 80 cm high and up to nine combs, citing one example of eight combs with 3,050 cells. Our observations tend to agree with this although, due to the small sample, we are unable to ascertain if this is the absolute maximum size. Archer (1998) stated that two colonies from Sumatra, which had produced reproductives, had 422 and 628 workers respectively.

Another colour form of this species, with the available subspecific name V. analis tyrannica ( Archer, 2012) , is recorded as occurring only in Singapore in the past ( Dover, 1929; van der Vecht, 1957) with no records subsequent to a male from 1923 ( Archer, 1998). This form was collected in Singapore by A.R. Wallace around 1854, a specimen of which is stored in the Natural History Museum, UK (photographs available at https://wallace.biodiversity.online/ species/A-Arth-Hexa-Hymenoptera-000041). Roche (1970) confirmed that this form was no longer present in Singapore at the time of writing, although it persisted then in Johor and elsewhere in the southern Malaysian Peninsula. The only record of V. analis available to us from Peninsular Malaysia, from Batu Pahat on near the west coast of Johor (https://www.inaturalist.org/observations/56987220), is of the nominate “Javan” colour form, which has evidently expanded considerably to the northwest of Singapore.

Floral associations. Averrhoa carambola ; Calliandra haematocephala ; Calliandra tergemina ; Callistemon citrinus ; Cerbera odollam ; Citrus aurantiifolia ; Coccoloba uvifera ; Cocos nucifera ; Cratoxylum cochinchinense ; Ipomoea sp. ; Mangifera indica ; Melaleuca viminalis ; Musa sp. ; Nephelium lappaceum ; Roystonea regia ; Talipariti tiliaceum .

Figures

Fig. 8. Vespa analis in Singapore. A: dorsal view of a worker visiting flowers of Syzygium zeylanicum; B: mature nest built on a Caryota mitis palm; C: lateral view of a worker. (Photographs: Zestin Soh and Janice Ang).