Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836

Smith-Pardo, Allan H., Carpenter, James M. & Kimsey, Lynn, 2020, The Diversity of Hornets in the Genus Vespa (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Vespinae), Their Importance and Interceptions in the United States, Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3), No. 2, pp. 1-27 : 21-22

Vespa velutina Lepeletier

Figs. 6b, 6d , 13d , and 50–52

Vespa velutina ‘De Haan’ Lepeletier, 1836: 507. Holotype female; Indonesia: ‘ Java’ (TURIN?).

Vespa auraria Smith, 1852: 46 . Syntype females; ‘ Northern India’ ( LONDON-NHM, OXFORD) .

Vespa crabro var. immaculata Morawitz, 1889: 161 . Holotype female; China: ‘ Kansu. Nanpin’. (ST. PETERSBURG). Nec Vespa immaculata Gmelin, 1790 .

Vespa fruhstorferi Stadelmann, 1894: 89 . Holotype female; Indonesia: West-Java, Gunung Gede, ‘in einer Höhe , 8000 ft’. (Berlin?).

Vespa velutina var. ardens du Buysson, 1905 (1904) : 550. Syntype female, male; Indonesia: Lombok, Sapit, Sumbawa Islands . (Vienna, Budapest) .

Vespa auraria var. nigrithorax du Buysson, 1905 (1904) : 553. Lectotype female (designated by van der Vecht, 1957: 37), India: Darjiling (PARIS).

Vespa velutina var. celebensis Pérez, 1910: 12 . Holotype female; Indonesia: Sulawesi, ‘ Bua-Kraëng’ (PARIS).

Vespa velutina var. megei Pérez, 1910: 13 . Holotype female; China: ‘ Koueï-Tchéou (Chine centrale)’ (PARIS). Synonymized by van der Vecht, 1957: 37.

Vespa mongolica var. divergens Pérez, 1910: 16 . Holotype female; Malaysia: Perak (PARIS).

Vespa flavitarsus Sonan, 1929: 142 . Holotype female; Taiwan: ‘Taiko-san (Kagi)’ (coll. M. Kato).

Vespa auraria flavitarsis Ma, 1937: 31 . Misspelling of Vespa flavitarsus Sonan, 1929 ?

Vespa velutina variana van der Vecht, 1957: 37 . Holotype female: Thailand: Ban Umphang , Doi Hua Mot (LEIDEN).

Vespa velutina karnyi van der Vecht, 1957: 38 . Holotype female; Indonesia: Sumatra: Bandar Buru, Deli (LEIDEN).

Vespa velutina sumbana van der Vecht, 1957: 40 . Holotype female; Indonesia: Sumba Is., Kananggar (LEIDEN).

Vespa velutina timorensis van der Vecht, 1957: 40 . Holotype female; Indonesia: Timor Is., Mollo (BASEL).

Vespa velutina floresiana van der Vecht, 1957: 40 . Holotype female; Indonesia: Flores Is., Labuan Badjo (LEIDEN).

Vespa velutina pruthii van der Vecht, 1959: 228 . Holotype female; India: Kashmir , Srinagar (CALCUTTA).

Distribution. Afghanistan, Pakistan, India, Bhutan, Nepal, southern China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, Malaysia, Malaya, Indonesia. Introduced into Korea, Japan (Tsushima I.), France, Belgium, United Kingdom, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Yemen.

Discussion. Vespa velutina has distinctive yellow tarsi and velvety appearing dark brown to black thorax and metasoma. It is native across Asia. However, V. velutina was introduced into Europe apparently with Chinese pottery in the past couple of decades ( Keeling et al. 2017). Although this species preys on a variety of insects, including flies, dragonflies, and Orthoptera, it is a notorious predator of pollinators, particularly honeybees ( Apis mellifera and A. cerana ). Apis cerana have adapted to this hornet using avoidance behaviors and balling behaviors where they heat the hornet to death ( Abrol 2006).

Figures

Figs. 5–8. Vespa morphology.Fig. 5.Lateral view of metasomal tergum 2.Fig.6. (a,b) Lateral view of pretegular pronotal carina.(c, d) Front view of clypeus.Fig. 7. (a, b) Front view of clypeus. (c, d). Dorsal view of vertex. Fig. 8. (a, c) Lateral view of metasoma. (b, d, e) Dorsal view of metasoma. Fig. 5a, V. fervida. Fig. 5b, V. luctuosa. Figs. 6a, 6c, 7a, 8a, 8c, V. philippinensis. Figs. 6b, 6d, V. velutina. Figs. 7b, 7e, 7f V. tropica. Figs.7c, 7d, 8d, V. ducalis. Fig. 8b, V. bicolor.

Figs. 13 and 14. Vespa morphology. (a, b) Dorsal view of scutum. (c, d) Lateral view of pronotal lobe. (e, f) Lateral view of anterior pronotal carina. (a) V. basalis. (b) V. ducalis. (c) V. vivax. (d) V. velutina. Fig. 14. V. affinis coloration. (a) Lateral view. (b) Dorsal view. (c) Front view of face.

Figs. 50 and 51. Vespa velutina color forms. (a) Lateral view. (b) Dorsal view. (c) Front view of face.

Figs. 52 and 53. Vespa color forms, (a) Lateral view. (b) Dorsal view. (c) Front view of face.Fig. 53. V. velutina. Fig. 54. V. vivax.