Taxonomic notes on Vespinae (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Entomologica Americana 121(1–4):35–37, 2015 TAXONOMIC NOTES ON VESPINAE (HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE) JAMES M. CARPENTER1,4, JUN-ICHI KOJIMA2,4, LIBOR DVOŘÁK3,4 AND ADRIEN PERRARD1,4 1 Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History, New York, NY 10024, USA 2 Natural History Laboratory, Faculty of Science, Ibaraki University, Mito 310-8512, Japan 3 Municipal Museum Mariánské Lázně, Goethovo Náměstı́ 11, CZ-353 01 Mariánské Lázně, Czech Republic Abstract—Taxonomic notes are provided for several taxa of Vespinae. Vespula austriaca (Panzer, 1799) and Vespula infernalis (de Saussure, 1854) can be distinguished by the sculpturing on the frons in the queen. Vespula yunlongensis Dong and Wang, 2003, is a synonym of V. flaviceps (Smith, 1870), NEW SYNONYMY, while V. yulongensis Dong and Wang, 2002, is not a synonym of that species, but of V. rufa (Linnaeus, 1758), NEW SYNONYMY. The type of Vespa peruana de Saussure, 1867, has been found in Geneva, and the species is confirmed as a synonym of Dolichovespula norwegica (Fabricius, 1781). Vespula shinanoensis Takamizawa, 2005, is a nomen nudum. Key words: Vespula, Dolichovespula, taxonomy. INTRODUCTION In the course of studies on taxonomy, phylogeny and distribution of yellowjackets during the past few years (Carpenter and Glare, 2010; Carpenter et al., 2011, 2012; Kimsey and Carpenter, 2012; Lopez-Osorio et al., 2014), we have accumulated notes on the status of several taxa, which may be conveniently published together. SPECIES DIAGNOSES Kimsey and Carpenter (2012) recognized Vespula austriaca (Panzer) and V. infernalis (de Saussure) as distinct species, and mentioned that morphological differences were known between them, but did not specify those differences. We will now detail the differences. Michael Archer (in litt. 2011) wrote as follows: Ian Yarrow made some discoveries to separate the North American from the Euro-Asian queen specimens of Vespula austriaca. He found that the puncture morphology showed differences on the upper frons, clypeus, metapleuron and sternites. The punctures of Euro-Asian specimens were either coarser or at a greater density. In addition, the area between the punctures on the upper frons was granulate on the Euro-Asian specimens but with distinct micropunctures on the 4 Email address for correspondence: carpente@amnh. org; perrard@mnhn.fr; jkrte@mx.ibaraki.ac.jp; lib. dvorak@seznam.cz North American species. Yarrow thought that these differences were sufficient to allow subspecies designation. We checked this on specimens from the U. S. A. and Canada versus Sweden, Finland, the Czech Republic, Switzerland, France and Spain. We did not detect consistent differences in the clypeal sculpture, metapleuron or metasomal sterna. But the punctation on the frons is certainly different (cf. Figs. 1 and 2). The macropunctures are more distinct and deeper in the European specimens, and the microsculpture is granulate, sometimes almost rugose. North American specimens, in contrast, have very fine microsculpture. The recognition of two species is therefore justified on morphological grounds. NEW SYNONYMY Vespula yunlongensis Dong and Wang, 2003, in Dong et al., J. Southwest Agric. Univ. 25 (3): 212, fig. 1, female [?] - “YUNNAN CHINA” (holotype in Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming). This taxon was overlooked by Carpenter et al. (2011), because of the similarity in spelling to V. yulongensis Dong and Wang, 2002. Carpenter et al. (2011) synonymized V. yulongensis with V. flaviceps (Smith, 1870), but the translation of the description they were working with was really that of V. yunlongensis. It is therefore V. yunlongensis that should be synonymized with V. flaviceps, and we do that here, NEW SYNONYMY. 36 ENTOMOLOGICA AMERICANA Fig. 1. Interantennal area of Vespula austriaca. We note one other point here: while V. yunlongensis was described from the female, with the male stated to be unknown, the figure of the metasoma has seven segments, as in males, instead of six, as in females (Dong et al., 2003: fig. 2). If the sex given in the description is correct, the drawing in Dong et al. (2003) was not based on observation. Vespula yulongensis Dong and Wang, 2002, in Dong et al., J. Southwest Agric. Univ. 24 (5): 396, figs. 1–5, female - “YUNNAN CHINA” (holotype in Kunming Institute of Zoology, Kunming). The revised synonymy then begs the question of what is V. yulongensis. While it was compared in the description with V. gracilia Lee, 1986, a synonym of V. flaviceps, most of characters listed as differentiating V. yulongensis are not really diagnostic, as shown by Carpenter et al. (2011) for other vespine taxa described by Dong and coauthors from Yunnan. We have seen a dorsal habitus image of the holotype of V. yulongensis, which, while poor, shows markings similar to V. rufa (Linnaeus, 1758), and the figures of the clypeus in Dong et al. (2002: figs. 3–4) confirm identification of V. yulongensis with the form of V. rufa described as the subspecies V. rufa grahami Archer, 1981, from Sichuan. We therefore synonymize V. yulongensis with V. rufa, NEW SYNONYMY. NOTES ON TYPES Vespa peruana de Saussure, 1867, Reise Novara., Zool. 2 (1), Hym.: 18, female - “Peru altior; Quito” [error] (monotypic holotype in Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Genève). This taxon was left unrecognized by Bequaert (1935) and Carpenter et al. (2012) because the whereabouts of the type were unknown. It was listed as questionably a synonym of Dolichovespula norwegica (Fabricius) by Kojima and Carpenter (1997), at a time when the synonymy Vol. 121(1–4) Fig. 2. Interantennal area of queen Vespula infernalis. of D. albida (Sladen) with D. norwegica was accepted. A specimen in the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle in Geneva is evidently the type, and was studied by JMC. It is a female, a worker, although large, with the labels “Quito,” “V. peruana/ Sauss.” (in what is probably de Saussure’s hand), “Vespa/peruana Saussure/Prob. type” (in an unknown hand) and “Origine douteuse/Resemble Vespa/norwegica du Canada!/(Yarrow i. l. 14.XI.58.” The specimen has been damaged by dermestids, with the left side of the head above the gena, the pronotum and mid-venter eaten out, parts of all left legs gone, and the left sides of metasomal sterna II-IV damaged. The ratio of the head width to the oculomalar space length is about 8, and the ratio of the postocellar line to the postocellar back of head line is more than unity (see Archer, 1989). The pale markings are ivory, with faint orange antero-lateral spots on metasomal tergum II. The clypeal black stripe is complete, being connected to the dorsal and ventral margins, with the dorsal part of the stripe not thin. The stripe is like fig. 3j in Pekkarinen (1995), a specimen of D. norwegica from Finland. The white bands on metasomal terga I-III are about uniform in thickness, scarcely notched, and slightly thicker than the bands on terga IV-V, which are all slightly wavy laterally but still not notched medially, while tergum VI has lateral stripes. The metasomal color pattern does not resemble fig. 57 in Miller (1961), D. albida in lacking spots on the first tergum, and in the bands being more even. The metasomal bands are like fig. 14a in Yamane (1975), a specimen of D. norwegica from Sakhalin. From this, we conclude that Vespa peruana is a synonym of D. norwegica (Fabricius), and not of D. albida (Sladen). The type is obviously mislabeled, as Bequaert (1935) noted, but while the Novara Expedition did call in China, it was only in southern China, far from the range of 2015 TAXONOMIC NOTES ON VESPINAE norwegica. The specimen may have been collected during the European part of the expedition. Vespula shinanoensis Takamizawa, 2005, The Japanese Social Wasps and Bees: 147, 148 (in subgenus Vespula). This species was described without mentioning repository of the holotype; it is therefore, as pointed out by Kojima (2006), a nomen nudum (Articles 13 and 16.4 of the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature). The author stated that it was collected as a social parasite in the nest of V. schrenckii (Radoszkowski, 1861, a synonym of V. rufa); the pictures of a nest in Takamizawa (2005: figs. 22-24, 24-01) show co-occurrence of its male and males of V. rufa, and thus it is presumably some form of V. rufa. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS We thank Michael Archer for sending us Ian Yarrow’s notes on austriaca and infernalis, the indefatigable Anthony Daglio for alerting us to the yulongensis/yunlongensis oversight and providing type images, and Bernhard Merz, Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle in Geneva, for assistance when JMC visited that collection. We also thank Matthias Buck for comments on a draft of the manuscript. This work was partially supported by National Science Foundation Grant DEB-0843505 to JMC. LITERATURE CITED Archer, M. E. 1989. A key to the world species of the Vespinae (Hymenoptera). Research Monograph College of Ripon & York St. John 2, York. Bequaert, J. 1935. Additions and corrections to the revision of North American Vespinae (Entomologica Americana, 1931). Bull. of the Brooklyn Entomol. Soc. 30: 119–124. Carpenter, J. M., L. Dvořák, J. Kojima, L. T. P. Nguyen, A. Perrard and K. M. Pickett. 2011. Taxonomic notes on the Vespinae of Yunnan (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Am. Mus. Novitat. 3709: 1–10. Carpenter, J. M., L. Dvořák and K. M. Pickett. 2012. Dolichovespula albida (Sladen) a valid species, not a synonym of D. norwegica (Fabricius) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Vespinae). Entomol. Am. 117 (3 & 4): 113–116. 37 Carpenter, J. M. and T. R. Glare. 2010. Misidentification of Vespula alascensis as V. vulgaris in North America (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae). Am. Mus. Novitat. 3690: 1–7. Carpenter, J. M. and J. Kojima. 1997. Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Nat. Hist. Bull. Ibaraki Univ. 1: 51–92. Dong, D., Y. He, Y. Wang and R. Wang. 2003. 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