Polistes mongolicus BUYSSON, 1911

Schmid, Christian, 2021, New records of Vespidae (Hymenoptera) from Iran with descriptions of three species, Linzer biologische Beiträge 52 (2), pp. 1105-1121 : 1116

Polistes mongolicus BUYSSON, 1911

M a t e r i a l e x a m i n e d: Golestan prov., 1♀, 03.vii.2018 Davilat 36,200 N 51,866 E, 1978 m. Mazanderan prov., 1♀, 12.vii.2018 Sorkh Deh 36,192 N 53,906 E, 1700 m. Semnan prov., 3♀♀, 12.vii.2018 Astane 36,267 N 54,121 E, 1448 m, Teheran prov., 2♀♀, 13.vii.2018 Firuzkuh 35,775 N 52,807 E, 1967 m. Kerman prov., 4♀♀, 06.v.2019 Bardsir 29.9477 N 56.5622 E, 2000 m. 4♀♀, 13.v.2019 Bam 40 km NW 29.3970 N 57.8506 E, 1741 m. Fars prov., 1♀, 15.v.2019 Estahban 12 km W 29.1767 N 53.8663 E, 1668 m.

D i s t r i b u t i o n i n I r a n: Widespread in northern and southern Iran, probably occurring in the whole country.

R e m a r k P. gallicus s. lat. was revised by SCHMID- EGGER et al. (2017). It is a complex of three species. The true P. gallicus is restricted in its distribution to the western Mediterranean area. P. mongolicus is widespread from the Balkans to Central Asia, southwest Asia, Iran and northeast Africa. The records of " P. gallicus " from Iran (EBRAHIMI & CARPENTER 2008) refer to P. mongolicus or P. foederatus KOHL, 1898 . However, the latter species is not yet recorded from Iran. It is known from northeast Italy to Greece, Turkey and Azerbaijan (SCHMID- EGGER et al. 2017). RAHMANI et al. (2020) mentioned P. mongolicus , P. gallicus and " P. foederata " (= P. foederatus ) from Iran without checking specimens. We do not know valid records of P. foederatus from Iran so far.