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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps » Vespoidea » Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps (Vespidae) » Paper Wasps (Polistinae) » Umbrella Paper Wasps (Polistes) » Subgenus Aphanilopterus (Polistes Subgenus Aphanilopterus) » Unstable Paper Wasp (Polistes instabilis)

Species Polistes instabilis - Unstable Paper Wasp

Classification · Other Common Names · Explanation of Names · Range · Works Cited
Polistes instabilis? - Polistes instabilis Wasp? - Polistes instabilis Polistes instabilis - Polistes instabilis Polistes instabilis - Polistes instabilis Paper Wasp - Polistes instabilis Paper Wasps - Polistes instabilis Paper Wasps - Polistes instabilis Unstable Paper Wasp - Polistes instabilis
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon (Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps)
Superfamily Vespoidea
Family Vespidae (Yellowjackets and Hornets, Paper Wasps; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps)
Subfamily Polistinae (Paper Wasps)
Genus Polistes (Umbrella Paper Wasps)
No Taxon (Subgenus Aphanilopterus)
Species instabilis (Unstable Paper Wasp)
Other Common Names
Known in Spanish as the avispa guitarrilla ("guitar wasp")
Explanation of Names
Polistes instabilis de Saussure, 1853
instabilis = from the Latin īnstabilis ('unstable, shaky'), referring to the species' shaky movements. These movements also gave the species its Spanish name, la avispa guitarrilla ('guitar wasp')
Range
It is a primarily Mexican and Central American species that occurs only in south Texas within the U.S.(1)
Works Cited
1.James M. Carpenter. Distributional checklist of species of the genus Polistes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae, Polistini)
Contributed by Matthias Buck on 13 July, 2007 - 8:46am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, Vespula vulgaris, PaleoJon
Last updated 6 August, 2021 - 1:08am

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