Polistes (Epicnemius) pacificus Fabricius, 1804

Brito, Samanta, Oliveira, Marcio L., Carpenter, James M. & Somavilla, Alexandre, 2024, The genus Polistes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Brazil: morphological diagnoses, identification key, and geographical distribution, Zootaxa 5496 (4), pp. 509-545 : 533

Polistes (Epicnemius) pacificus Fabricius, 1804

( Figs 69, 70 )

Polistes pacifica Fabricius, 1804: 274 , ♀, ♂.

Diagnosis. Female. Body pigmentation black with yellow apical bands, there may be brown spots on the terga and yellow bands on the propodeal area. Wings pigmentation with dimorphism, yellowish to faintly brown or reddish to brown. Intermediate size, about 18 mm in total length. Clypeus slightly wider than it is long or as long as wide, covered by short bristles at its base becoming long toward the apex, and medium-sized and deep punctures present only in the apical region, apex rounded, clypeus-eye touching for an extent equal to or greater than width of antennal socket; central region of the gena smaller than the eyes; occipital carina strong, extending through entire gena; humeri slightly projecting; dorsal groove incomplete; mesepisternum with short and dense bristles, small and shallow punctation; propodeal concavity widely extended in the center, propodeal striae weak in all length; tergum I longer than wide, with short and dense bristles, and strong, medium sized, and deep punctures; tergum II wider than or as wide as long; short and dense bristles, strong punctures. Male. Similar to females, except clypeus longer than wide, pointed apex, with bristles only on the lower region, dark brown to black wing pigmentation, general black pigmentation, without yellow bands on the terga.

Material examined. 19♀, 1♂ in total. Brazil: Amazonas , 1♀ ( INPA); Bahia , 1♀ ( MNHN); Minas Gerais , 1♀ ( AMNH); Pará , ♀ [Lectotype] ( MNHN) , 1♀ ( MNHN) , 11♀, 1♂ ( NHM); Rio Grande do Sul , 2♀ ( CESC); São Paulo , 1♀ ( MZSP) .

Distribution. Brazil: Acre, Amapá, Amazonas, Bahia, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Mato Grosso, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Rondônia, Roraima, São Paulo; USA; Mexico; Guatemala; Honduras; Nicaragua; Costa Rica; Panama; Trinidad; Colombia; Venezuela; Guyana; Suriname; French Guiana; Ecuador; Peru; Bolivia; Paraguay.

Figures

FIGURES 69–76. Polistes spp. 69, 70. P. (Epicnemius) pacificus Fabricius. 71, 72. P. (E.) rufiventris Ducke. 73, 74. P. (E.) subsericeus de Saussure. 75, 76. P. (E.) testaceicolor Bequaert. 69, 71, 73, 75. Dorsal view. 70, 72, 74, 76. Lateral view. Scale bars: 5 mm.