Delta conoideum (Gmelin, 1790)

Sheikh, Altaf Hussain, Kumar, P. Girish, Thomas, Moni & Bhandari, Rita, 2017, Taxonomic studies on Vespid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae) of Dumna Nature Park, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (3), pp. 198-198 : 198-

14. Delta conoideum (Gmelin, 1790)

1787. Vespa conica Fabricius , 293. Syntype: Female. China ( BMNH) .

2006. Delta conoideum ; Gusenleitner, 694.

Diagnosis: Female: Head above antenna and mesosoma closely and lightly punctured; clypeus pyriform, its apex truncate; metasoma smooth and shining with surface minutely aciculate.

Colour Description: Head yellow except mandibles and antenna reddish, broad transverse band across apex between tops of eyes black, black mark extends behind vertex to occiput; thorax dark red with black patches on mesoscutum, metapleuron and median area of propodeum, propleuron entirely black; legs pale reddish; gaster dark red with base of T2 and short transverse medially interrupted band on its middle above black; forewing basally flavohyaline and apically fusco-hyaline, with slight purplish reflection.

Size (H+M+T1+T2): 23-26 mm.

Male: Last antennal article hooked apically, hook long, curved and pointed, in curved position it almost reaching apex of 9 th antennal article; S7 with deep median longitudinal groove; Male comparatively smaller and slighter than female. Other characters almost same as that of female.

Size (H+M+T1+T2): 17 mm.

Material examined: INDIA: Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur district, Dumna Nature Park , 2♀ & 1♂, 9.ii.2015, Coll. Altaf Hussain Sheikh.

Distribution: India: Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Diu, Gujarat, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra, Meghalaya, Odisha, Pondicherry, Rajasthan, Sikkim, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Tripura, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. Elsewhere: Arabia, China, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand.