Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
our fauna revised in
(1); summary of changes made since
(2):
Two exotic spp. introduced: Vespa affinis Linnaeus and Vespa simillima (Smith)
One new species described: Dolichovespula alpicola Eck (AK-AB to AZ-NM along the Rocky Mts)
Several species previously considered Holarctic are not found in both North America and the Palearctic. Records of
Vespula vulgaris,
Vespula austriaca,
Dolichovespula adulterina, and
D. norwegica actually refer to
Vespula alascensis (Packard),
Vespula infernalis (de Saussure),
D. albida (Sladen), and
D. arctica (Rohwer), respectively;
Vespula intermedia (du Buysson) should be used instead of
Vespula rufa(1)Numbers
20 established spp. (of which 2 are adventive) in 3 genera in our fauna
(1)
plus records of 3 additional adventive spp. of Vespa that failed to become established: V. simillima (~1997), V. affinis (2010), & V. mandarinia (2019-2021).
Identification
Key to spp. in
(1); an older but still helpful key in
(2)
key to species with images in the Guide
(4)
Comparison of face structure:
Dolichovespula Vespula Vespa
Food
Larvae eat mostly caterpillars. Adults take nectar.
Life Cycle
Social wasps. They build paper nests surrounded by an envelope.
