Scientific Name

Vespa affinis (Linnaeus, 1764)

Taxonomic Placement

Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae: Vespinae: Vespa

Synonyms/Original combination

Apis affinis Linnaeus, 1764: 417.
Vespa indosinensis Perez, 1910:8.
Vespa affinis affinis; Bequaert, 1936: 347.
Vespa affinis continentalis Bequaert, 1936: 350.

Brief diagnosis

Eyes emarginate. Posterior ocelli closer to each other than to eye. Vertex long, distance between posterior ocelli and occiput greater than distance between posterior ocelli and eye. Fore wing with first discal cell longer than subbasal cell. Fore wing folded longitudinally. Hind wing without jugal lobe. Metacoxa with dorsal longitudinal carina. Metasoma sessile with tergum 1 abruptly declivous anteriorly. Punctures on vertex, temple, mesoscutum, scutellum, postscutellum, metapleuron and propodeum small and crowded; second gastral tergum largely or entirely orange yellow.

Images

Adult- dorsal view
Adult- lateral view
Adult- frontal view

Distribution

India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
Elsewhere: Bangladesh; Bhutan; China; Cambodia; Indonesia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Singapore; Sri Lanka; Thailand; Vietnam.

Distribution within India

References

  • Das, B. P., & Gupta, V.K. (1984) A catalogue of the families Stenogastridae and Vespidae from the Indian subregion (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea). Oriental Insects, 17(1), 395–464.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00305316.1983.10433698
  • Das, B.P. & Gupta, V.K. (1989) The social wasps of India and the adjacent countries. Oriental Insects Monograph, 11, 1–292.
    https://doi.org/10.1080/00305316.1989.11835532
  • Dorji, P., Gyeltshen, T., Klein, W. & Nidup, T. (2017b) New records of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespinae: Vespa and Provespa) from Bhutan. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 9(4), 10102–10108.
    https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2423.9.4.10102-10108
  • Girish Kumar, P. & Sharma, G. (2014b) Taxonomic studies on vespid wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae) of Sunderbans Biosphere Reserve, West Bengal, India Part 1. Records of Zoological Survey of India, 114(4), 563–580.
  • Girish Kumar, P., Mazumdar, P.C. & Phong, H.P. (2015c) New records of hornet wasps of the genus Vespa Linnaeus (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) from Indian States and Bangladesh. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 115(2), 215–219.
  • Gusenleitner, J. (2006) Über Aufsammlungen von Faltenwespen in Indien (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Linzer Biologische Beiträge, 38(1), 677–695.
  • Jonathan, J.K., Roy, S.B. & Kundu, B.G. (1996) Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae. Zoological Survey of India, State Fauna Series, Fauna of West Bengal, 3(8), 149–184.
  • van der Vecht, J. (1959c) Notes on Oriental Vespinae, including some species from China and japan (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 13, 205–232.