Zootaxa 4801 (3): 584–590 ISSN 1175-5326 (print edition) https://www.mapress.com/j/zt/ Article ZOOTAXA Copyright © 2020 Magnolia Press ISSN 1175-5334 (online edition) https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.4801.3.11 http://zoobank.org/urn:lsid:zoobank.org:pub:A16DF3C7-FE80-4134-8EC5-7033A81078CC

Taxonomic notes on the genus Vespa Linnaeus, 1758 (: : ) from , with a new record of a species and an updated key to species

THUONG THI VU1, LIEN THI PHUONG NGUYEN2,3* & BOGDAN WIŚNIOWSKI4 1Hanoi Pedagogical University 2, Nguyen Van Linh Str., Xuan Hoa, Phuc Yen, Vinh Phuc, Vietnam 2Insect Ecology Department, Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam 3Graduate school of Science and Technology, Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, 18 Hoang Quoc Viet Road, Nghia Do, Cau Giay, Hanoi, Vietnam 4University of Rzeszów, Faculty of Biology and Agriculture, 1 Ćwiklińskiej St, 35-601 Rzeszów, Poland https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7101-9233 *Corresponding author. [email protected]; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3527-9577

Abstract

A taxonomic study on the genus Vespa from Vietnam is presented. One species, Vespa fumida van der Vecht, 1959 is recorded as new for the Vietnamese fauna. The complete queen nest of Vespa mocsaryana du Buysson, 1905 is described, together with the queen. An updated key to all of the Vespa species known from Vietnam based on external morphological characters is also provided.

Key words: Social , ,

Introduction

The social Vespidae (Hymenoptera) in Vietnam are placed in three subfamilies: Stenogastrinae (hover wasps), Polis- tinae (paper wasps) and Vespinae (hornet and yellow-jacket) (Nguyen and Kojima, 2013). The subfamily Vespinae comprises four genera, all found in Asia; only three of these, however, occur in Vietnam: Provespa Ashmead, 1903, Vespa Linnaeus, 1758 and Vespula Thomson, 1869. The largest-bodied vespine wasps belong to the genus Vespa. Species of this genus usually found colonies with a single queen, but it also has been reported that the founding queen may be joined by other females and polygynous associations (Matsuura, 1991). This genus of hornet consists of 22 species distributed mainly in tropical southeastern Asia from Afghanistan to far-eastern Russia (Ussuriland) and from Sumatra to New Guinea (Archer, 2012). Ten species of the genus Vespa have been recorded from Vietnam in previous studies (Nguyen and Carpenter, 2002; Nguyen et al., 2006). In this study, based on specimens deposited in Institute of Ecology and Biological Resources (IEBR), one species of the genus Vespa is recorded from Vietnam for the first time. The complete queen nest of one species is described together with its queen and an updated key to the Vespa species of Vietnam is also presented.

Material and methods

The specimens examined in the present study are deposited in the collections of the IEBR. The adult morphological and color characters were observed on pinned and dried specimens under a stereo- scopic microscope. Photographic images were obtained using a Nikon SMZ 800N Digital Stereo Microscope with ILCE-5000L/WAP2 digital camera attached on that, using Helicon Focus 7 software; the plates were edited with Photoshop CS6. The abbreviations S and T (1, 2, 3…) refer to numbered metasomal sterna and metasomal terga, respectively.

584 Accepted by K. Williams: 9 Apr. 2020; published: 19 Jun. 2020 Taxonomic accounts

Genus Vespa Linnaeus, 1758

Vespa Linnaeus, 1758, Syst. Nat., ed. 10, 1: 343, 572, genus (17 species). Type species: “Vespa crabro, Fab.” [= Vespa crabro Linnaeus, 1758], by subsequent designation of Latreille, 1810, Consid. Gén. Crust. Arachn. Ins.: 438.

Vespa fumida van der Vecht, 1959 (Figs 1–2)

Vespa variabilis du Buysson, 1905 (1904), Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 73: 490 (key), 522, 627, female—“Chine: Mou-pin” (lecto- type Paris); Junior primary homonym of Vespa variabilis Fabricius, 1781. Vespa variabilis fumida van der Vecht, 1959, Zool. Meded., Leiden 36 (13): 228, female—“ ... ‘British Bootan’, Padong” (Paris).

This species is newly recorded from Vietnam. It was collected in the northern part of the country, in Cao Bang and Lao Cai provinces. It has head orange-yellow (Fig. 1), body black, and the last metasomal segment yellow (Fig. 2). Material examined. VIETNAM: Cao Bang: 1 female, Phia Oac-Phia Den NP, Nguyen Binh, 22°35′07.7″N 105°51′59.8″E, alt. 900–1100m, 24.v.2018, Nguyen LTP; Lao Cai: 2 females, Phan Can Su, Bat Xat NR, 22°39′19″N 103°37′27″E, alt. 1931m, 1.viii.2019, Nguyen LTP, Nguyen CQ, Tran NT, Tran UTP. Distribution. India: Arunachal Pradesh, West Bengal, Sikkim, Assam; Bhutan; ; ; : Sich- uan, Shaanxi, Yunnan, Hubei, Fujian, Tibet; Vietnam (new record).

Vespa mocsaryana du Buysson, 1905 (Figs. 3–5)

Vespa Mocsaryana du Buysson, 1905 (1904), Ann. Soc. Entomol. Fr. 73: 490 (key), 537, pl. VII fig. 3, female, male—“Presqu’ile de Malacca: Pérak ...; Sikkim ...; Assam: Khasia Hills ...; Tenasserim: Thagatâ” (Budapest, Wien, London, Genova). Material examined. VIETNAM: Tuyen Quang: 2 workers, Cham Chu NP, Cao Duong, Yen Thuan, Ham Yen, 22°17′32.5′′N 104°59′28′′E, alt. 650 m, 17.v.2019, Vu TT; Lang Son: 2 workers, Huu Lien NR, Huu Lien, Lang Son, 21°43’22.9”N, 106°22’40.2”E, ca 300 m, 12 June 2019, Nguyen LTP, Tran NT & Wiśniowski B; Gia Lai: Kon Chu Rang NP, K Bang, Son Lang, 14°31′08′′N 108°28′24′′E [1 queen, alt. 840 m, Nest#VN-2016-TN-V-01, 2.v.2016, Nguyen LTP; 1 queen, 2 workers, alt. 850 m, 19.iv.2017, Nguyen LTP]. A complete queen nest of this species was found in April, 2016 in Kon Chu Rang NP, Gia Lai province in Tay Nguyen highland. The nest (Fig. 5) was attached to a branch of a tree in the genus Gomphandra (family Icacina- ceae), about 1.5 m above the ground. Its greatest diameter was about 5 cm, with the entrance tube about 4.5 cm long. This nest had one queen inside. The queen’s coloration was as follows: body ground color black, except clypeus, head, thorax except mesoscutum, narrow apical band of T1, irregular bands on T2–5, entirely of T6 (Fig. 4) yel- lowish-brown; fore leg brownish-yellow except coxa and femur black; middle and hind legs black, except tibia with medial yellow mark and tarsus yellow. The worker’s body ground color was black, the head and mesosoma were brown, except mesoscutum black, the metasomal segments were black, except a narrow yellow apical band on the first tergum, and the legs were brown (Fig. 3). Distribution. India: Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam; China: Sichuan, Anhui, Fujian, ; Myanmar; Thai- land; Laos; Vietnam; Malaysia: Peninsular Malaysia; Indonesia: Sumatra.

VESPA FROM VIETNAM Zootaxa 4801 (3) © 2020 Magnolia Press · 585 FIGURES 1–5. Characters of Vietnamese Vespa. 1–2. Vespa fumida van der Vecht, 1959. 1. Head in frontal view. 2. Habitus. 3–5. Vespa mocsaryana du Buysson, 1905. 3. Worker. 4. Queen. 5. Complete queen nest.

586 · Zootaxa 4801 (3) © 2020 Magnolia Press VU ET AL. An updated key to species of the genus Vespa from Vietnam modified from Nguyen et al., 2006, and based on the key in Archer, 2012)

The present key is based primarily on morphological characters. Color characters are also given, but they may not be applicable to some local forms occurring outside of Vietnam. 1. Female: antenna with ten flagellomeres; metasoma six segmented ...... 2 - Male: antenna with 11 flagellomeres; metasoma seven segmented ...... 11 2. Anterior margin of clypeus with broad and rather deep median emargination, lateral edges of emargination forming broadly rounded lobes, with median bluntly triangular tooth (Fig. 6)...... V. analis Fabricius - Anterior margin of clypeus more or less emarginated, without median tooth ...... 3

FIGURES 6–9. Characters of Vietnamese Vespa. Workers, head in frontal view. 6. Fabricius, 1775. 7. Vespa du- calis Smith, 1852. 8. Vespa mandarinia Smith, 1852. 9. Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836. Scale: 1 mm.

VESPA FROM VIETNAM Zootaxa 4801 (3) © 2020 Magnolia Press · 587 3. Pretegular carina complete, crossing spiracular operculum. Center of the clypeus covered by coarse and large punctures, with distance between punctures less than puncture diameter ...... 4 - Pretegular carina incomplete, only extending to or only slightly beyond center of spiracular operculum. Center of the clypeus usually covered by small punctures, with inter-puncture distance more than puncture diameter ...... 12 4. Clypeus with bluntly triangular tooth on each side of the apical emargination (Figs. 7, 8) ...... 5 - Clypeus with short, broadly rounded lobe on each side of the apical emargination (Fig. 9) ...... 8 5. Head enlarged and swollen behind eyes; in lateral view gena more than 1.8 times eye width ...... 6 - Head not swollen behind eyes; gena less than 1.4 times eye width ...... 7 6. Pronotum with median impression. T1 short, less than half as long as wide in dorsal view. T3–T5 with either a narrow or broad apical orange bands; sixth tergum largely orange ...... V. mandarinia Smith - Pronotum without such a median impression. T1 long, about as long as or longer than half of its own apical width in dorsal view. T3–T5 black… ...... V. soror du Buysson 7. Disc of scutellum weakly swollen dorsally. Vertex and frons with strong yellow hairs; T2 orange-yellow with a broad black band ...... V. ducalis Smith - Disc of scutellum nearly flat. Vertex and frons with strong black hairs; T2 entirely orange-yellow ...... V. tropica (Linnaeus) 8. T1 long, about half as long as wide in dorsal view. T6 black ...... 9 - T1 short, less than half as long as wide in dorsal view. T6 orange-yellow ...... V. fumida van der Vecht 9. Mesocutum, vertex and propodeum with distances between punctures greater than puncture diameter. Ventrolateral part of pronotum rugose, with transverse striae. Vertex yellow-brown; T2 black ...... V. mocsaryana du Buysson - Mesocutum, vertex and propodeum with distances between punctures less than puncture diameter. Ventrolateral part of prono- tum not rugose. Vertex black; T2 orange-yellow.… ...... V. affinis (Linnaeus)

FIGURES 10–13. Characters of Vietnamese Vespa. 10. Vertex of Vespa basalis Smith, 1852, dorsal view. 11. Vertex of Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836., dorsal view. 12. T1 of Vespa bicolor Fabricius, 1787, lateral view. 13. T1 of Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836, lateral view.

588 · Zootaxa 4801 (3) © 2020 Magnolia Press VU ET AL. 10. T1 in dorsal view about as long as or longer than half of its own apical width. Punctures on central part of clypeus small, separated by two or three puncture diameters. Vertex concave posteromedially (Fig. 10). T2–T5 entirely black; T1 black with a narrow apical yellowish-brown band ...... V. basalis Smith - T1 less than half as long as wide in dorsal view. Punctures on central part of clypeus larger, separated by one puncture diameter or less. Vertex not concave in the middle (Fig. 11). T2–T5 not entirely black; T1 yellow, or black with a thicker apical yellow band ...... 1

11. Ventrolateral part of pronotum smooth. TI in lateral view with anterior declivity sometimes weakly convex; anterodorsal angle between anterior declivity and dorsal face more obtuse, and often weakly rounded (Fig. 12). Vertex black; metanotum yellow; T1 and T2 yellow ...... bicolor Fabricius - Ventrolateral part of pronotum rugose, with transverse striae (sometimes less distinct in worker). T1 in lateral view with anterior declivity nearly flat; anterodorsal angle between anterior declivity and dorsal face prominent (Fig. 13). Vertex yellowish orange to orange, but often black; metanotum black; T1 and T2 black, with at most a yellow apical band ...... V. velutina Lepeletier 12. Apical margin of S7 convex (Fig. 14) ...... V. basalis Smith - Apical margin of the S7 straight or concave ...... 13 13. Pretegular carina complete ...... 14 - Pretegular carina incomplete ...... 20 14. Head strongly swollen behind eyes; in lateral view gena more than 1.3 times eye width ...... 15 - Head not swollen behind eyes; in lateral view gena less than 1.2 times eye width ...... 16 15. Pronotum with median impression. T1 short, less than half as long as wide in dorsal view. T5 and T6 with either a narrow or broad apical orange band; T7 largely orange ...... V. mandarinia Smith - Pronotum without such a median impression. T1 relatively long, about as long as or longer than half of its apical width in dorsal view. T5–T7 black ...... ….. V. soror du Buysson 16. Apical margin of S7 only shallowly emarginate (Fig. 15). T2 orange-yellow, with a broad black band ...... V. ducalis Smith - Apical margin of S7 with deep median emargination ...... 17 17. Apical margin of S6 shallowly emarginate. T1 entirely black...…...... V. tropica (Linnaeus) - Apical margin of S6 deeply emarginate (Figs. 16, 17). T1 orange-yellow, or black with a narrow apical yellow to reddish-brown band ...... 18 18. Eye separated from clypeal border by gap on both sides, or at least on one side. Clypeus, vertex, scutellum and metanotum orange ...... V. analis Fabricius - Both eyes touching clypeal border. Clypeus, vertex, scutellum and metanotum black, if not black then T1 and T2 black ...19

FIGURES 14–17. Characters of Vietnamese Vespa. S6–7, ventral view. 14. Vespa basalis. 15. Vespa ducalis Smith, 1852. 16. (Linnaeus, 1764). 17. Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836.

VESPA FROM VIETNAM Zootaxa 4801 (3) © 2020 Magnolia Press · 589 19. Punctures on vertex behind ocelli and on mesoscutum large, with distances between punctures less than puncture diameter. Ventrolateral part of pronotum not rugose. Clypeus black; T1–2 largely or entirely orange-yellow ...... V. affinis (Linnaeus) - Punctures on vertex behind ocelli and on mesoscutum small, with distances between punctures greater than puncture diameter. Ventrolateral part of pronotum rugose. Clypeus orange; T1–2 black, with at most narrow apical yellow to reddish-brown band on T2…………………………… ...... V. mocsaryana du Buysson 20. Apical margin of the S6 with a shallow emargination, less than a semicircle in shape ...... V. fumida van der Vecht - Apical margin of the S6 with a deep emargination, semicircular in shape ...... 21 21. Ventrolateral part of pronotum rugose, with transverse striae. T1 in lateral view with anterodorsal angle between anterior decliv- ity and dorsal face prominent. Vertex yellow; metanotum black; T1–2 black, with at most yellow apical bands...... V. velutina Lepeletier - Ventrolateral part of pronotum smooth. T1 in lateral view with anterodorsal angle between anterior declivity and dorsal face more obtuse and often weakly rounded. Vertex black; metanotum yellow; T1–2 yellow, with at most black apical bands ...... V. bicolor Fabricius

Acknowledgements

We thank Bui Hong Quang (IEBR) for identifying the plant species. We are grateful to subject editor, Kevin Wil- liams and two reviewers, James M. Carpenter and an anonymous one, for comments and suggestions that helped to improve this article. The present study was supported by the grants from the Science and Technology of Hanoi Pedagogical University 2 (C.2018-18-09), and by the grants from the Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology (KHCBSS.01/18-20 and QTPL 01.02/19-20).

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