Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Reinstated from synonymy with the
Palaearctic D. adulterina in
(1)Explanation of Names
Dolichovespula arctica (Rohwer, 1916)
Size
Queens 18 mm; males 15 mm
Range
transcontinental in the north, LB-AK south to GA, AZ, & CA; absent for much of the Midwest
(1)Life Cycle
A social parasite of
D. arenaria and
D. norvegicoides that thus has no worker
caste, with the larvae instead being reared by the workers of the host species.
See Also
D. arctica is one of 5 black and white/ivory yellowjackets. One of these,
D. maculata, has an entirely black 2nd
tergite and thus can be readily separated from all other species. Another 2,
D. albida and
Vespula intermedia have reddish patches laterally on the tergites, which are absent in all other species. The species most easily confused with
D. arctica is
V. consobrina.
In D. arctica, the pale posterior bands are almost interrupted in the midline by extensions from the black anterior bands whereas in V. consobrina there is no such extension. Also, queens of V. consobrina have pure black antennae, while queens of D. arctica have the 1st antennal segment extensively yellow. In both queens and males, there is a big difference in the width of the oculo-malar gap between the 2 species: wide in Parasitic (it's in the genus Dolichovespula) and narrow in the Blackjacket (a Vespula).
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)
The black space between the upper white spot on the temple and the lower white spot on the
gena is larger in
D. albida, with the queens having this space larger than the lower spot. The lower spot is often very small to lacking in
D. albida. The
clypeus of
D. albida has an larger, complete black stripe running down the length whereas
D. arctica has this stripe incomplete and generally restricted to the lower portion. The ivory markings on the
pronotum of
D. albida consist only of a straight, linear stripe without the extension at the anterior found in
D. arctica. The abdomen of
D. albida queens have the markings on the
urotergites as simpler stripes with additional lateral lobes on the first 2 tergies typical in
D. albida but absent in
D. arctica. Thus, the markings of
D. albida are more akin to those of
D. norvegicoides, except for being ivory instead of yellow. In males, the head and thorax of
albida are covered in denser, longer, entirely black hairs. The legs of
albida have less white than those of
D. arctica and have an additional reddish tinge on at least the
femora.
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)
Queen (♀♀) Worker (♀) Male (♂)