Polistes (Gyrostoma) olivaceus ( De Geer, 1773 )

Tan, Jiang-Li, Achterberg, Kees Van, Duan, Mei-Jiao & Chen, Xue-Xin, 2014, An illustrated key to the species of subgenus Gyrostoma Kirby, 1828 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) from China, with discovery of Polistes (Gyrostoma) tenuispunctia Kim, 2001, Zootaxa 3785 (3), pp. 377-399 : 386

Polistes (Gyrostoma) olivaceus ( De Geer, 1773)

( Fig. 19 )

Vespa olivacea De Geer 1773: 582 (type, sexunstated, America, deposited in Naturhistoriska Riksmuseum, Stockholm). Vespa hebraea Fabricius 1787: 292 (♀, Indonesia, deposited in ZMUC, Copenhagen).

Vespa macaensis Fabricius 1793: 259 (type, ♀, Macao, China, deposited in ZMUC, Copenhagen).

Material examined. Indonesia: 1♀, without label, head broken, legs lost ( Vespa hebraeus , type of Fabricius, coll. Kiel, ZMUC). China: 2♀, with a handwritten label “ macaensis Fab ”, heads and legs lost (type of Vespa macaensis Fab., 1793 , coll. Kiel, ZMUC); 1♀, handwritten round label: “Ningbo, China, Felder”, labelled: “ Polistes hebraeus F.” ( RMNH); 1♀, Tibet, China, a handwritten round label ( RMNH); 1♀, Xiaoliang, Dianbai, Guangdong, 10.iv.1983, YL Zhang ( NWAU); 7 ♀, Baisha, Hainan, 19˚13'15"N 109˚26'54"E, 202 m, 21.vii.2011, YH Zhong, no. hzs0700433–438, -440 ( CATAS); 2♀, Songtao Water Reservoir, Hainan, 17.vii.2002, 20029565, ZF Xu ( ZJUH); 1♀, Qifang town, Baisha, Hainan, 202 m, 19˚18'22"N 109˚18'00"E, 21.vii.2011, YH Zhong, no. hzs0700431 ( CATAS); 1♀, Xiqing Farm, Danzhou, Hainan, 132 m, 19˚33'03"N 109˚28'00"E, 19.v.2009, CM. Xing, no. hzs070043 ( CATAS); 1♀, Yangjiang Farm, Qiongzhong, Hainan, 170 m, 19˚17'49"N 109˚45'10"E, 22.vii.2011, YH Zhong, no. hzs0700432 ( CATAS); 1♀, Xipei Farm, Danzhou, Hainan, 245 m, 19˚21'40"N 109˚27'31"E, 2.viii.2011, YH Zhong, no. hzs0700563 ( CATAS); 1♀, Wuyi Farm, Xuwen, Guangdong, 99 m, 20˚28'21"N 110˚08'57"E, 10.viii.1981, no. hzs070038 ( CATAS). India: 1♂, Assam, 1930 ( RMNH), det. P. o. hebraeus Fabricius, 1787 .

Remarks. This species can be easily identified by having the mesopleuron weakly and sparsely punctate and the metasoma of the male with long and apically spatulate terminal apophyses. However, it is hard to separate the more melanistic type of Polistes hebraeus apart from P. jokahamae only on base of its colour pattern; frequently Chinese female specimens in MNHN and RMNH are misidentified. No P. olivaceus specimens from China with P. o. hebraeus colour pattern were available, but recorded from China by Liu (1937) and Lee (1982, 1985); considering its occurrence in India (Assam), its presence in China is likely.

Distribution. China (Guangdong, Hainan, Zhejiang, Tibet, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao); Madagascar; Reunion; Mauritius; Tanzania ( Zanzibar); Seychelles (Ameirantes); Chagos Archipelago; Egypt; Oman; Iran; Afghanistan; India; Sri Lanka; Nepal; Myanmar;? Japan; Philippines; Vietnam; Laos; Cambodia; Thailand; Malaysia; Singapore; Indonesia; Marianas; New Caledonia; Fiji; Tonga; Samoa; Society Is; Tuamotu; Marquesas. Introduced in Chile, USA (Hawaii), Australia and New Zealand ( Carpenter 1996b).

Figures

FIGURE 19. Polistes olivaceus (De Geer, 1773), habitus. A, C, E, dorsal view; B, D, F, lateral view: A – B, female, specimens from Hainan, China; C – D, male, specimens from Somoya; E – F, specimens from Assam, India (as Polistes hebraeus Fabricius, 1787).