Vespa bicolor Fabricius, 1787

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 : 9-10

Vespa bicolor Fabricius

Figs. 2f , 8b , 12b, 12d, 12e , 19 , and 20

Vespa bicolor Fabricius, 1787: 288 . Syntypes, sex not stated; China (COPENHAGEN).

Vespa lutea Coquebert, 1804: 94 . Type unknown; ‘Massiliae lecta, in navi ex India’ (repository unknown).

Vespa auraria var. citriventris du Buysson, 1905 (1904) : 552. Lectotype female (designated by van der Vecht, 1959: 218); Sikkim: Padamchen Lingtou, ‘Padamtsin à Lingtou’ (PARIS).

Distribution. India, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam. Introduced into Taiwan.

Discussion. This species of Vespa has a very distinctively marked black and yellow thorax, with a largely yellow metasoma. It preys on honeybees, and one species of Dendrobium orchid exploits this behavior. These orchids produce chemicals that mimic alarm pheromones of Asian ( Apis cerana ) and European ( Apis mellifera ) honeybees to attract the hornets to pollinate their flowers ( Brodman et al. 2009).

Figures

Figs. 1–4. Vespa morphology. Fig. 1 (a) Hindwing. (b) Forewing apex.(c) Lateral view of pronotal lobe.(e) Hindtarsal claws.(f)Thoracic dorsum. (g) Lateral view of metasomal segment 1. Fig. 2. (a) Lateral view of pronotal lobe. (b) Dorsal view of vertex, i =distance from hind ocellus to posterior head margin, ii=distance between lateral ocellus and eye. (c) Lateral view of metasomal segment 1. (d) Costal margin of forewing apex.(e) Dorsal view of vertex.(c) Front view of clypeus and mandibles. Fig. 3.(a, b) Lateral view of head. (c, d) Lateral view of metasoma.(3a, 3c)V.soror. Fig. 4. (a, b) Lateral view of metasomal tergum 2. (c, d) Lateral view of pronotal carina. (e, f) Front view of clypeus. Figs. 1a-g, 2a, 2b, 3b, 3d, V. crabro. Fig. 2c, V. binghami. Figs. 2d, 2e, V. analis. Fig. 2f, V. bicolor. Figs. 4a, 4e, V. fervida. Fig. 4b, V. multimaculata. Figs. 4c, 4f, V. luctuosa. Fig. 4d, V. affinis.

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. 9–12. Vespa morphology. (a, b) Dorsal view of metasoma. (c, d) Dorsal view of basal metasomal terga. Fig. 10. (a, b) Dorsal view of scutum. (c, d) Dorsal view of metasoma. Fig. 11. (a, b) Lateral view of head. (c, d) Dorsal view of metasoma. Fig. 12. (a, b) Front view of clypeus.(c-f) Dorsal view of metanotum. Figs. 9a, 9b,V. orientalis. Figs. 9c, 10b, d, V. affinis. Fig. 9d, V. crabro. Figs. 10a, 10c, 11b, 11c, V. mocsaryana. Fig. 11a, V. fumida. Fig. 11d. V. dybowskii. Figs. 12a, 12f, V. multimaculata. Figs. 12b, d, e, V. bicolor. Fig. 12c, V. luctuosa.

Figs. 19 and 20. Vespa bicolor color forms. (a) Lateral view. (b) Dorsal view. (c) Front view of face.