Polistes rubiginosus

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Polistes rubiginosus
Polistes rubiginosus P1210254a.jpg
Scientific classification OOjs UI icon edit-ltr.svg
Domain: Eukaryota
Kingdom: Animalia
Phylum: Arthropoda
Class: Insecta
Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae
Subfamily: Polistinae
Genus: Polistes
Species:
P. rubiginosus
Binomial name
Polistes rubiginosus
Lepeletier, 1836
Synonyms [1]
  • Polistes perplexus Cresson, 1872
  • Polistes generosusCresson, 1872
  • Polistes carolina(Linnaeus, 1767) in part

Polistes rubiginosus is one of two species of red paper wasp found in the eastern United States (the other being Polistes carolina ) and is noted for the coarser ridges on its propodeum. [1] [2] It is a social wasp (subfamily Polistinae) in the family Vespidae. Until taxonomic revision by Matthias Buck in 2012, P. rubiginosus was long known under the name P. perplexus. [1] [3] It occurs northernmost from Maryland, Pennsylvania to northern Ohio, south to Florida, and from there west to central Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma, Texas and Arizona. [1] [2] [4]

Contents

Taxonomy

It was known for a long time as P. perplexus, but in 2012 it was found that the older name P. rubiginosus actually referred to this species, before that the name P. rubiginosus was seen as a synonym of P. carolina. [1] [3]

P. perplexus was named in 1872 for six specimens collected in Texas by Ezra Townsend Cresson [5] (said to have been published in 1870 in error in Karl Vorse Krombein (1979) and Matthias Buck et al. (2008)). [4] [6] Cresson himself does not mention P. carolina, but states that he found P. perplexus very closely resembling P. rubiginosus, also recognised as a species in his time, and perhaps just to be a male form of this taxon. He also described P. generosus as a new species in the same paper, from three specimens from Texas, stating that it "may be an extreme variety of perplexus". [5] P. generosus was published on the next page after P. perplexus, which means that when the two taxa were considered synonym, P. perplexus had taxonomic priority because it was published first. [4] [5] Owain Richards saw it as a synonym of P. carolina in 1978, although Wade and Nelson recognised it as a species in a paper published the same year. [6] Thus the taxon was for a long time, and until relatively recently, confused with P. carolina. [1] [4] [3] [6]

Description

The length of the forewing is 18.0–21.5 mm in the female, 17.0–18.0 mm in the male. The body of the creature is almost entirely rusty red, broken by a number of black to dark brown markings. These markings consist of a usually well developed spot around the eyes, this rarely divided into individual spots around each eye, and often a spot in front of pronotal carina. In some cases there are yellow markings on the propodeal valves and tarsi. [6]

Polistes rubiginosus and P. carolina are the only large red-coloured wasp species in the eastern US. [7] P. rubiginosus is, however, extremely similar to P. carolina, [1] [6] [7] and can be found in the same regions; [4] [6] [7] the key morphological difference being the malar area (the "cheek") seen from the side, but this works only for the female wasps. [1] This area and the gena are covered in silvery pubescent hairs. P. rubiginosus is the only Polistes wasp in the P. fuscatus-group to have this characteristic, all other species have this area bare or almost so. [6] Both sexes of P. perplexus can also be distinguished from P. carolina by the coarser transverse ridging of the propodeum. [7]

Distribution

This species appears to be an endemic of the US. [1] [2] [6] In 1979 Krombein states P. perplexus occurred from Maryland south to Georgia and from there west to southern Illinois, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. [4] As of 2020 it has been recorded in the states of Arizona, [2] Arkansas, [1] Florida, [2] Illinois, Kentucky, Louisiana, [2] Missouri, [1] Ohio, [2] Oklahoma, [1] [2] Pennsylvania [6] and Texas. [2] The modern known distribution thus exceeds that given in Krombein in all directions because of problems with identification. The species is very similar to P. carolina and may have been under-reported. [4] [6] The specimen from Arizona was collected in 1923 but only properly identified in 2016. [2] The first records from Florida date to 1989. [2] [8] The record from Pennsylvania is from 2005. [1] [6] The distribution largely overlaps with that of P. carolina. [4] [6] [7]

Ecology

The ecology is poorly known because of the aforementioned confusion with P. carolina. It is a eusocial insect, building nests in sheltered locations such as in hollow trees, or under wooden platforms and inside storage buildings. [6] Adults have been seen feeding on Euthamia graminifolia and/or E. caroliniana in Florida. [8]

Conservation

The IUCN has not evaluated this species' conservation status. [2]

It has been recorded as present in the following protected areas:

Related Research Articles

<i>Polistes</i> Genus of wasps

Polistes is a cosmopolitan genus of paper wasps and the only genus in the tribe Polistini. Vernacular names for the genus include umbrella wasps, coined by Walter Ebeling in 1975 to distinguish it from other types of paper wasp, in reference to the form of their nests, and umbrella paper wasps. Polistes is the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 200 recognized species. Their innate preferences for nest-building sites leads them to commonly build nests on human habitation, where they can be very unwelcome; although generally not aggressive, they can be provoked into defending their nests. All species are predatory, and they may consume large numbers of caterpillars, in which respect they are generally considered beneficial.

<i>Polistes metricus</i> Species of wasp

Polistes metricus is a wasp native to North America. In the United States, it ranges throughout the southern Midwest, the South, and as far northeast as New York, but has recently been spotted in southwest Ontario. A single female specimen has also been reported from Dryden, Maine. P. metricus is dark colored, with yellow tarsi and black tibia. Nests of P. metricus can be found attached to the sides of buildings, trees, and shrubbery.

<i>Polistes carolina</i> Species of wasp

Polistes carolina is one of two species of red paper wasp found in the eastern United States and is noted for the finer ridges on its propodeum. It is a social wasp in the family Vespidae and subfamily Polistinae. The species is native to the United States from Texas to Florida, north to New York, and west to Nebraska. The wasp's common name is due to the reddish-brown color of its head and body. P. carolina prefer to build their nests in protected spaces.

Polistes hirsuticornis is a species of paper wasp found in North America and described in 2012. Individuals were previously treated under several other species within the P. fuscatus-group.

<i>Polistes parametricus</i> Species of wasp

Polistes parametricus is a species of paper wasp described in 2012. It was previously recognized as belonging in P. fuscatus-group. It is listed in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region as "species B". And in the NCBI Taxonomy as Polistes sp. Buck2.

<i>Euodynerus annulatus</i> Species of wasp

Euodynerus annulatus is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Euodynerus schwarzi</i> Species of wasp

Euodynerus schwarzi is a nearctic species of potter wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Leptochilus acolhuus</i> Species of wasp

Leptochilus acolhuus is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Pachodynerus erynnis</i> Species of wasp

Pachodynerus erynnis, known generally as the red-marked pachodynerus or red and black mason wasp, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Parancistrocerus fulvipes</i> Species of wasp

Parancistrocerus fulvipes also known by the common name potter wasp is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae. This species' nesting sites include borings in wood, old mud dauber and Polistes nests, and abandoned burrows of ground-nesting bees, but it may also construct its own burrows in the ground. Prey includes caterpillars of Tortricidae, Nolidae, Chloephorinae, Crambidae, and Gelechiidae.

<i>Parancistrocerus histrio</i> Species of wasp

Parancistrocerus histrio is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Polistes aurifer</i> Species of wasp

Polistes aurifer, the golden paper wasp, is a species of paper wasp in the genus Polistes of the family Vespidae. It occurs in the western part of North America, from southern Canada through the United States to northern Mexico.

<i>Polistes flavus</i> Species of wasp

Polistes flavus, also known as the yellow paper wasp, is a species of paper wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Pseudomasaris coquilletti</i> Species of wasp

Pseudomasaris coquilletti is a species of pollen wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Pseudomasaris vespoides</i> Species of wasp

Pseudomasaris vespoides is a species of pollen wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Vespula vidua</i> Species of wasp

Vespula vidua, known generally as the long yellowjacket or widow yellowjacket, is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Zethus slossonae</i> Species of wasp

Zethus slossonae is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae.

<i>Zethus spinipes</i> Species of wasp

Zethus spinipes is a species of stinging wasp in the family Vespidae found in the eastern United States.

<i>Polistes bahamensis</i> Species of wasp

Polistes bahamensis is a large species of colourful paper wasp in the genus Polistes of the family Vespidae which occurs in the Bahamas, Florida and Louisiana. It is also said to occur in Georgia.

<i>Polistes comanchus</i> Species of wasp

Polistes comanchus is a species of paper wasp from northwestern Mexico to the south central United States.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 "Species Polistes rubiginosus". bugguide.net. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 "Polistes rubiginosus". Global Biodiversity Information Facility . Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  3. 1 2 3 Buck, Matthias; Cobb, T.P.; Stahlhut, J.K.; Hanner, R.H. (1 October 2012). "Unravelling cryptic species diversity in eastern Nearctic paper wasps, Polistes (Fuscopolistes), using male genitalia, morphometrics and DNA barcoding, with descriptions of two new species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Zootaxa. 3502 (1): 1. doi:10.11646/zootaxa.3502.1.1.
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Krombein, Karl Vorse (1979). "Vespoidea". In Krombein, Karl V.; Hurd, Paul D. Jr.; Smith, David R.; Burks, B. D. (eds.). Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico. Vol. 2. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press. p. 1515. doi:10.5962/bhl.title.5074.
  5. 1 2 3 Cresson, Ezra Townsend (1872). "Hymenoptera Texana". Transactions of the American Entomological Society. 4: 245, 246. Retrieved 21 January 2020.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Buck, Matthias; Marshall, S.A.; Cheung, D.K.B (19 February 2008). "Polistes perplexus Cresson, 1870 in Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the northeastern Nearctic region". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 5: 79. doi:10.3752/cjai.2008.05 . Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  7. 1 2 3 4 5 Buck, Matthias; Marshall, S.A.; Cheung, D.K.B (19 February 2008). "Polistes carolina (Linnaeus, 1767) in Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the northeastern Nearctic region". Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification. 5: 492. doi:10.3752/cjai.2008.05 . Retrieved 22 January 2020.
  8. 1 2 "SCAN Detailed Collection Record Information". Archbold Biological Station Arthropod Collection. Archbold Biological Station. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
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