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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 » Vespidae » Paper Wasps (Polistinae) » Umbrella Paper Wasps (Polistes) » Subgenus Fuscopolistes (Polistes Subgenus Fuscopolistes) » Hunter's Little Paper Wasp (Polistes dorsalis)

Species Polistes dorsalis - Hunter's Little Paper Wasp

Classification · Other Common Names · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Numbers · Identification · Internet References · Works Cited
Polistes - Polistes dorsalis - male Polistes? - Polistes dorsalis - male Pale Polistes - Polistes dorsalis - male unknown wasp - Polistes dorsalis - male Wasp - Polistes dorsalis Polistes dorsalis? - Polistes dorsalis Wasp nest on palm frond - Polistes dorsalis - male - female Polistes bellicosus or dorsalis - Polistes dorsalis
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
Subfamily Polistinae (Paper Wasps)
Genus Polistes (Umbrella Paper Wasps)
No Taxon (Subgenus Fuscopolistes)
Species dorsalis (Hunter's Little Paper Wasp)
Other Common Names
Known in Spanish as la avispa menor de papel (en: smaller, lesser, or minor paper wasp). "Hunter's little paper wasp" may be an appropriate common name, based on both the Spanish common name and the species' taxonomic history under the epithet of hunteri.
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Orig. comb.: Vespa dorsalis Fabricius 1775
Polistes fuscatus hunteri Bequaert, 1940
Polistes hunteri Bequaert, 1940
Polistes dorsalis (Fabricius, 1775)
Numbers
3 sspp. treated by Richards
Identification
P. dorsalis dorsalis - Propodeum usually with two stripes; abdomen yellow-striped and lacking spots.
♀ ♂

P. dorsalis californicus - Propodeum with two stripes; abdomen with yellow spots fused with the stripes, essentially forming broader stripes.
♀ ♂

      Arizonan form (part of ssp. californicus under Richards) - essentially like classic P. d. californicus except that the ground color of much of the body is black.
     

P. dorsalis "neotropicus" - Texas/central form (regarded as ssp. neotropicus by Richards), readily recognized by the extensively (almost entirely) yellow propodeum. This form is disjunct from the true P. d. neotropicus population, which occurs from Veracruz, Mexico, to Costa Rica, so may represent a distinct subspecies.
Internet References
Species page in the Identification Atlas of the Vespidae of the Northeastern Nearctic Region. (1)
Works Cited
1.Identification Atlas of the Vespidae (Hymenoptera, Aculeata) of the Northeastern Nearctic Region
Matthias Buck, Stephen A. Marshall, and David K. B. Cheung. 2008. Biological Survey of Canada [Canadian Journal of Arthropod Identification].
Contributed by Tony DiTerlizzi on 11 April, 2006 - 11:01am
Additional contributions by Matthias Buck, Mike Quinn, James Bailey, PaleoJon
Last updated 14 August, 2023 - 12:36pm

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