Pseudopolybia, de Saussure, 1863

ANDENA, SERGIO R., NOLL, FERNANDO B., CARPENTER, JAMES M. & ZUCCHI, RONALDO, 2007, Phylogenetic Analysis of the Neotropical Pseudopolybia de Saussure, 1863, with Description of the Male Genitalia of Pseudopolybia vespiceps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae, Epiponini), American Museum Novitates 3586 (1), pp. 1-12 : 1-2

Pseudopolybia is a genus of neotropical swarm-founding wasps (Tribe Epiponini ), distinguished by the third segment of the labial palpi bearing a short, stout, curved bristle near its apex, and the number of palpal segments being six maxillary and four labial ( Richards, 1978). The genus comprises four species, which range from Nicaragua to southern Brazil, and they are found mainly in rainforest ( Hanson and Gauld, 1995; Richards and Richards, 1951; Richards, 1978). Although there are few species, they present several taxonomic problems, because both P. compressa and P. vespiceps occur in striking color forms that ‘‘in some respects look like species, though they show no structural differences’’ ( Richards, 1978: 224). In the most recent revision, Richards (1978)

1 FFCLRP-USP. Av. Bandeirantes, 3900, Ribeirão Preto-SP, CEP 14040-901, Brazil ([e-mail]).

2 Departamento de Zoologia e Botânica, Instituto de Biociências, Letras e Ciências Exatas, UNESP, Rua Cristóvão Colombo, 2265; 15054-000, São José do Rio Preto, SP, Brazil ([e-mail]).

3 Curator, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, American Museum of Natural History ([e-mail]).

treated these color variants as ‘‘morphs’’: P. compressa comprised the morphs compressa , luctuosa and laticincta, and Pseudopolybia vespiceps comprised the morphs vespiceps and testacea. These names had been first described as distinct species or varieties; they were later reduced to varieties of the respective species ( Bequaert, 1938) and are now synonyms, as the term ‘‘morph’’ is without taxonomic standing.

Nests of three of the species of Pseudopolybia have been described (Wenzel, 1998): P. compressa , P. difficilis and P. vespiceps . They are usually arboreal, with the pedicel fibrous and cell marginal and lower combs hanging from the upper ones, normally by a single more or less central petiole ( Richards, 1978). The spherical or tapering envelope is not in contact with the combs, and is laminar or imbricate, with downwardly opening pockets built on the outside of the envelope. The entrance hole is a simple hole at the lowest point of the envelope. A nest of P. langi from French Guiana is mentioned in the literature ( Dejean et al., 1998), and the specimen is now in the collection of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH). It is an incipient nest, arboreal, a single comb lacking an envelope and attached by a pedicel to the substrate (a leaf). A more complete specimen was obtained in Amapá, Brazil, by Orlando Tobias Silveira, who kindly sent us a photograph. Although the specimen is damaged, essential aspects of its architecture are visible: the nest consists of several combs attached to the substrate (a leaf), evidently with some degree of stacking present; there is an envelope that is not in contact with the combs and that consists of a simple sheet, without pockets and without a spoutlike entrance. In the absence of the imbrications in the envelope, P. langi is primitive relative to the other species in the genus, a conclusion that is true for other characters, as will be seen.

Carpenter and Mateus (2004) presented the first detailed descriptions of male genitalia of Pseudopolybia and related genera (see also Charnley, 1973). Probably due to intermittent male production in social wasps ( Jeanne, 1991), few works on male genitalia have been published. This type of character seems to be important in phylogenetic investigation, an issue not well explored for the Polistinae ( Carpenter, 1991; Wenzel and Carpenter, 1994). In this work, a phylogenetic analysis of Pseudopolybia using male genitalia and other characters is presented.