Scientific Name

Vespa tropica (Linnaeus, 1758)

Taxonomic Placement

Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae: Vespinae: Vespa

Synonyms/Original combination

Sphex tropica Linnaeus, 1758: 1-517.
Vespa cincta Fabricius, 1775: 362.
Vespa eulemoides Buysson, 1905 (1904): 491, 530.
Vespa tropica tropica; Bequaert, 1936: 328, key, des., fig.
Vespa tropica haematodes Bequaert, 1936: 338.
Vespa tropica leefmansi van der Vecht, 1957: 19.

Brief diagnosis

Female: Vertex long, posterior ocelli closer to each other than to eye. Distance between posterior ocelli and occiput greater than distance between posterior ocelli and eye. Hindwing without jugal lobe. Metacoxa with dorsal longitudinal carina. Metasoma sessile, T1 abruptly declivous anteriorly. Colour: Head dark red or reddish brown. Mesosoma black with dorsal pronotum and scutellum dark red. Wings yellow hyaline apically and brownish basally. T1 dark red or black. T2 and S2 yellow. T3-T6 black.

Images

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

Distribution

India: Andaman & Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Goa, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Puducherry, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Tripura, Uttarakhand, West Bengal.
Elsewhere: Bhutan; Brunei; Cambodia; China; Indonesia; Laos; Malaysia; Myanmar; Nepal; Pakistan; Philippines; 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
  • Gawas, S.M., Girish Kumar, P., Gupta, A. & Sureshan, P.M. (2019) Checklist of vespid wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Goa, India, with new records and a key to species. Zootaxa, 4585 (2), 269–294.
    http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4585.2.3
  • 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. & Sharma, G. (2015b) Taxonomic studies on Vespid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae) of Chhattisgarh, India. Journal of Threatened Taxa, 7(14), 8096–8127.
    https://doi.org/10.11609/jott.2426.7.14.8096-8127
  • Gusenleitner, J. (2006) Über Aufsammlungen von Faltenwespen in Indien (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Linzer Biologische Beiträge, 38(1), 677–695.
  • Jonathan, J.K. & Kundu, B.G. (2003) Insecta: Hymenoptera: Vespidae. Zoological Survey of India, State Fauna Series, Fauna of Sikkim, 9(4), 369–392.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Sheikh, A.H., Girish Kumar, P., Thomas, M. & Bhandari, R. (2017) Taxonomic studies on vespid wasps (hymenoptera: vespoidea: vespidae) of Dumna Nature Park, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh. Records of the zoological survey of India, 117(3), 198–213.
  • van der Vecht, J. (1959c) Notes on Oriental Vespinae, including some species from China and japan (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Zoologische Mededelingen, 13, 205–232.