Scientific Name

Vespa basalis Smith, 1852

Taxonomic Placement

Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae: Vespinae: Vespa

Synonyms/Original combination

Vespa basalis Smith, 1852a: 46.
Vespa obliterata Smith, 1852a: 47.

Brief diagnosis

Eyes emarginate. Antennal flagellomeres usually orange, rarely reddish brown. Posterior ocelli closer to each other than to eye. Posterior ocelli less than Ix farther from occiput than from eye. Vertex depressed at medially. 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.

Images

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

Distribution

India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Himachal Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Odisha, Sikkim, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal.
Elsewhere: Bhutan; China; Indonesia; Laos; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Taiwan; Thailand; Vietnam.

Distribution within India

References

  • Archer, M.E. (1989) A key to the world species of the Vespinae (Hymenoptera). Research Monographs of the College of Ripon & York St John, 2, 1–41.
  • Carpenter, J.M. & Kojima, J.I. (1997) Checklist of the species in the subfamily Vespinae (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Natural history bulletin of Ibaraki University, 1, 51–92.
  • 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. & Srinivasan, G. (2010) Taxonomic studies of hornet wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) Vespa Linnaeus of India. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 110(2), 57–80.
  • Girish Kumar, P. & Sureshan, P.M. (2019b) Insecta: Hymenoptera: Aculeata. Zoological Survey of India, Fauna of Namdapha Tiger Reserve. Arunachal Pradesh. In: Conservation Area Series, 65, 165–202.
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  • Kundu, B.G., Ghosh, S.N. & Roychowdhury, S. (2006) Insecta: Hymenoptera: Aculeata (Vespidae and Apidae). Zoological Survey of India, State Fauna Series, Fauna of Arunachal Pradesh, 13(2), 427–448.
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  • Pham, P.H. & Li, T. (2015) A first list of vespid wasps from Vietnam (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Russian Entomological Journal, 24(2), 133–144.
  • Rafi, M.A., Carpenter, J.M., Qasim, M., Shehzad, A., Zia, A., Khan, M.R., Mastoi, M.I., Naz, F., Ilyas, M., Shah, M. & Bhatti, A.R. (2017) The vespid fauna of Pakistan. Zootaxa, 4362(1), 1–28.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4362.1.1
  • Srinivasan, G. & Girish Kumar, P. (2013) A study on Vespid wasps (Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Itanagar Wildlife Sanctuary, Arunachal Pradesh. Records of the Zoological Survey of India, 113(1), 115–127.
  • van der Vecht, J. (1959c) Notes on Oriental Vespinae, including some species from China and japan (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 13, 205–232.