Vespa basalis Smith 1852

Kojima, Jun-Ichi, Saito, Fuki & Nguyen, Lien Thi Phuong, 2011, On the species-group taxa of Taiwanese social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) described and / or treated by J. Sonan, Zootaxa 2920, pp. 42-64 : 54

Vespa basalis Smith 1852 [ Vespa basalis Smith 1852 ]

Sonan (1929: 144) mentioned that this species was common in mountainous areas in Taiwan, and recorded it from Arisan, Bakuras (Karenkô), Heito, Rônô, Horisha, Kobayashi, Musha, Rikiriki, Rimogan, Tabô, Taihoku, Taipin, Taito, and Ugan (Rato).

Kuo and Yeh (1985) metioned that this species might make its initial nest in a cavity or low vegetation and relocate the nest high in a tree when a colony has produced a certain number of workers. Sonan (1929: 145) stated that he saw hornets going in and out of a small hole on the ground (a nest was under the ground) at Jûjiro [= crossroad] in Arisan in 1918 [month was not mentioned] and that they seemed to be V. velutina . Sonan (1929: 144) listed four workers with the collection data “Arisan (Jûjiro, 5000 ft.) 2–23.X.1918 (Coll. J. Sonan, M. Yoshino).” Sonan did not explicitly refer to a species for the owner of the underground nest, which suggests that these four workers could not be collected from it. If Sonan observed the underground nest in early summer, his observation may suggest the nest-relocation habit of V. basalis .