Polistes crinitus (Felton)

Genaro, Julio A., 2011, Vespidae (Insecta: Hymenoptera) of Puerto Rico, West Indies, Insecta Mundi 2011 (202), pp. 1-35 : 17

Polistes crinitus (Felton)

( Fig. 50 )

Vespa crinita Felton, 1765: 54 , pl. VI right fig. - “Island of Jamaica ” (lost).

Vespa tricolor Fabricius, 1775: 369 � “ Jamaica ” (type depository unknown) [junior primary homonym of Vespa tricolor Pallas, 1771 ]. � de Saussure 1853a: 93 (syn. of P. americanus (Fabricius)) .

Vespa americana Fabricius, 1775: 370 � “America” (UZMC). REVISED STATUS.

Vespa multicolor Olivier, 1792: 691 � “Cayenne” (type depository unknown). � de Saussure 1853a: 94 (syn. of P. americanus (Fabricius)) . REVISED STATUS.

? Vespa dominicensis Vallot, 1802: 168 � “Saint�Domingue” (probably lost). � de Saussure 1854: 103 (species dubiae; in subgenus Polistes , possibly P. americanus ).

Polistes americana ; Fabricius, 1804: 275. � Dewitz 1881: 199 ( P. americanus ; Portorico). � Ståhl 1882: 201 ( P. americanus ). � Gundlach 1887: 158 ( P. americanus ). � Ashmead 1900: 311 ( P. americanus ). � Wolcott 1951: 862 �864 ( P. americanus ). � García Tudurí et al. 1974: 130 ( P. americanus ; Desecheo). � Medina Gaud and Martorell 1974: 270 ( P. americanus ; Caja de Muertos).

Polistes media Palisot de Beauvois, 1818: 207 , pl. VIII fig. 2 - “Sainte-Domingue” (type depository un-un� known). � de Saussure 1853a: 94 (syn. of P. americanus (Fabricius)) .

Polistes madoci Kirby, 1884: 411 , female � “St. Thomas” (BMNH). � Richards 1978: 515 (syn. of P. crinitus americanus (Fabricius)) .

Polistes canadensis ; Wolcott 1924: 41 ; 1936: 567. Misidentification.

Polistes crinitus ; Wolcott 1924: 41 ; 1936: 567; 1941: 155 (record of P. canadensis from Puerto Rico belongs here). � Ramos 1946: 68. � Miskimen and Bond 1970: 109. � Snelling 1992: 13 (Guana), 14 (Mona); 2005: 289 (Guana).

Polistes crinitus var. americanus ; Salt 1927: 185.

Polistes crinitus var. insulicola Bequaert and Salt, 1931: 793 , female � “ St. Kitts (or St. Christopher) ... Basseterre” (Cornell University, Ithaca). � Richards 1978: 515 (syn. of P. crinitus multicolor (Olivier)) .

Polistes crinitus insulicola ; Beatty 1944: 171.

Polistes crinitus var. multicolor ; Richards and Richards 1951: 96.

Polistes crinitus crinitus ; Richards 1978: 471 (key), 514 (in subgenus Aphanilopterus ).

Polistes crinitus americanus ; Wolcott 1951: 864

Polistes crinitus multicolor ; Richards 1978: 471 (key), 515 (in subgenus Aphanilopterus ).

Polistes tricolor ; Overal 1978: 10.

This species was described from Jamaica, and is widespread in the Antilles. In the revision by

Richards (1978), it was treated as a polytypic species with three subspecies. The forms concerned were originally described as separate species, then synonymized by de Saussure (1853�1858). In the last century the names were revived as varieties, with another variety then described by Bequaert and Salt (1931), which later came to be treated as subspecies. In Richards’ conception, P. crinitus americanus is the subspecies predominant in Greater Puerto Rico, with P. c. crinitus restricted to Jamaica, Hispaniola and Montserrat, while P. crinitus multicolor is found in St. Croix and the Lesser Antilles, as well as Montserrat. In Richards’ key these subspecies differ in the relative amounts of black, ferruginous and yellow coloration. The differences are not large: there is more black on the metasoma and more yellow on the mesosoma in P. crinitus americanus , while the scutum is ferruginous in P. crinitus crinitus but is black or with reddish spots in P. crinitus multicolor . However, as his key stated of the latter “(speci� mens from Martinique approach P. c. crinitus ).” These latter forms, then, are not well distinguished, nor is the form Polistes crinitus var. insulicola , which Richards treated as a synonym of P. crinitus multicolor . And in fact P. crinitus americanus is not as distinct as portrayed in the key: Richards gave “Humeri almost entirely yellow” for P. crinitus americanus versus “Humeri with only front and hind margins yellow, disk black and ferruginous,” but P. crinitus americanus we have collected in Puerto Rico typically have the front and hind margins yellow, and just part of the dorsal surface black; the lateral surface is black with occasional reddish tinge. The variation among these forms is continuous, with the more melanistic extreme found in Puerto Rico. Dividing such variation into named subspecies is a poor way to treat it, and it does not work well in any case. We are therefore sinking these subspecies. Wolcott (1924) mentioned caterpillar prey, and avian predation on this species in Puerto Rico. Wolcott (1951) elaborated on the ethology of the species, and mentioned Cordyceps attack. There are otherwise just isolated description of nests from elsewhere in its range ( Richards and Richards 1951).

Figures

Figures 45-50. Images from life of vespid wasps from Greater Puerto Rico. 45) Pachodynerus atratus gathering mud up for nest construction on a path, Culebra Island. 46) Pachodynerus tibialis involved in the same activity, Mona Island. 47) Zeta abdominale with a mud ball ready for transportation to the nest, Puerto Rico. 48) Zethus rufinodus, Puerto Rico. 49) Mischocyttarus phthisicus on the nest, Puerto Rico. 50) Polistes crinitus on the nest, Mona Island.