Polistes associus

Polistes associus is a species of paper wasps belonging to the family Vespidae.

Polistes associus
Polistes associus. Male
Side view
Scientific classification
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Genus: Polistes
Species:
P. associus
Binomial name
Polistes associus
Kohl, 1898

Distribution

This species is present in central and southern Europe (Albania, Austria, Bulgaria, Croatia, European Turkey, France, Greece, Italy, Poland, Romania, Ukraine, Yugoslavia), in the Near East, and in the Oriental realm.[1]

Description
Polistes associus. Male, front view

Polistes associus can reach a body length of about 15–16 mm (0.59–0.63 in) in females, of about 11–14 mm (0.43–0.55 in) in workers.[2]

These wasps are characterized by very light eyes, the ocelli arranged according to an equilateral triangle, completely black mandibles and yellow lateral parts (genae) of the head. The dorsal surface of antennae is black in both sexes, with wide and deep longitudinal groove.[3] Clypeus is uniformly yellow, markedly depressed, with a distinct longitudinal ridge and a black stripe.[2][4]

The 6th sternit is black. The ventral part of the last abdominal segment is reddish-brown withs an apical lighter spot.[2][3]

The males are easily distinguishable by the combination of narrow temples and a markedly depressed clypeus.[3] The dorsal length of the apical antennal segment longer than in similar species.[4]

This species is very similar to Polistes nimpha. For this reason the recognition of P. associus females may be problematic.[3][4]

Biology

These wasps parasitizes other Polistes wasps of multiple species, especially Polistes atrimandibularis.[5] and they are parasitized by Strepsiptera species.[6]

References
  1. Fauna Europaea
  2. Erol Yildirim, Hikmet Ozbek Polistinae (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) of Turkey
  3. Libor Dvoraki & Stuart P. M. Roberts>Key to the paper and social wasps of Central Europe (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)
  4. Christian Schmid-Egger, Kees van Achterberg, Rainer Neumeyer, Jérôme Morinière, Stefan Schmidt Revision of the West Palaearctic Polistes Latreille, with the descriptions of two species – an integrative approach using morphology and DNA barcodes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae)
  5. Biolib
  6. Jan Smit, John T. Smit A social parasitic Polistes wasp parasitized by a twisted-wing insect (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Strepsiptera: Xenidae)


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