Eumeninae, Leach, 1815

Pannure, Arati & Carpenter, James M., 2016, Taxonomic studies on potter wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae: Eumeninae) of south India, Zootaxa 4171 (1), pp. 1-50 : 2

Status of Eumeninae taxonomy in India

The Eumeninae are less familiar compared to the social subfamilies ( Vespinae , Polistinae and Stenogastrinae ) in India. These wasps present considerable taxonomic problems in India simply because no intensive research on it has ever been carried out (lack of revisions in this subfamily). The fauna of this region has also received little attention regarding its generic and specific classification compared to some other Asian faunas. The Indian Eumeninae were first comprehensively studied by Bingham (1897) —and this is the last such study. Scattered papers have been published since ( van der Vecht 1937, 1959a & b, 1961, 1963, 1981; Gusenleitner 1988, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2006, 2007, 2008; Krombein 1991; Lambert 2004; Lambert & Narendran 2002; Nguyen 2015a, b & c; Nguyen et al. 2014, 2016) but a thorough inventory lacks to date. Important progress with regard to potter wasps from Indian subcontinent is being made by Girish Kumar who is currently working on collections of the Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) ( Girish Kumar 2011, 2012a, 2012b, 2012c, 2013a, 2013b, 2013c; Girish Kumar & Carpenter 2013, 2015; Girish Kumar & Lambert 2011, 2012; Girish Kumar & Sharma 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015a & b; Srinivasan & Girish Kumar 2010, 2013; Girish Kumar et al. 2013a, 2013b, 2013c, 2013d, 2014a, 2014b, 2015a, 2015b, 2016; Lambert et al. 2007, 2008; Mohammed Shareef et al. 2013). The need for taxonomic work on potter wasps is underlined by the lack of adequate keys. At present there are no published keys for some of the most common and diverse genera in the subfamily and the only generic key available is to the faunas of Arunachal Pradesh ( Srinivasan & Girish Kumar 2010) and Chhattisgarh ( Girish Kumar & Sharma 2015b). The present paper deals with the taxonomy of potter wasps of south India . South India is the area encompassing India’s states of Andhra Pradesh , Karnataka , Kerala, Telangana , Tamil Nadu, as well as the union territories of Lakshadweep and Puducherry, occupying 19.31% of India’s area . It is bordered by the Arabian Sea in the west, the Indian Ocean in the south and Bay of Bengal in the east. The geography of the region is diverse, encircled by two mountain ranges, the Western and Eastern Ghats, and a plateau heartland . South India is a treasure chest of biodiversity which hosts a large variety of plants and animal species. A modern species list of Eumeninae in south India is presented here. It lists a total of 72 species and subspecies under 31 genera from south India . Fifteen species are recognized as being newly reported for Karnataka and two species for Kerala. The genera are alphabetically ordered and the species are listed under respective genus and ordered alphabetically, together with material examined. Further Information on the distribution of species is provided. In addition, new localities are included for some species and subspecies that have already been reported from south India .