Polistes (Epicnemius) occipitalis Ducke, 1904

Brito, Samanta, Oliveira, Marcio L., Carpenter, James M. & Somavilla, Alexandre, 2024, The genus Polistes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Brazil: morphological diagnoses, identification key, and geographical distribution, Zootaxa 5496 (4), pp. 509-545 : 531

Polistes (Epicnemius) occipitalis Ducke, 1904

( Figs 65, 66 )

Polistes occipitalis Ducke, 1904: 367 (key), 371, ♀.

Diagnosis. Female. Body pigmentation dark brown to black, and lighter metasoma. Wings pigmentation hyaline and matte. Intermediate size, about 20 mm in total length. Clypeus long than it is wider, clypeus covered by short bristles, and medium-sized and deep punctures present only in the apical region, apex pointed, clypeus-eye touching for an extent smaller than width of antennal socket; central region of the gena dilated, much wider than the eyes; occipital carina strong, extending through entire gena; humeri slightly projecting; mesepisternum with short and dense bristles, small and shallow punctation; propodeal concavity widely extended in the center, propodeal striae absent; tergum I longer than wide, with short and dense bristles, weakly punctation; tergum II wider than or as wide as long, with short and dense bristles, weak punctures. Male. Similar to females, except for clypeus much longer than wide; yellow stripes on the legs.

Material examined. 8♀, 2♂ in total. Brazil: Amazonas , 1♂ ( AMNH) , 4♀ ( INPA); Pará , ♀ [Holotype] ( MNHN) , 1♀ ( AMNH) , 1♀ ( MNB) , 1♂ ( MNHN); São Paulo , 1♀ ( MNHN) .

Distribution. Brazil: Amapá, Amazonas, Espírito Santo, Maranhão, Minas Gerais, Pará, Rio de Janeiro, Rondônia, São Paulo, Tocantins; Costa Rica; Panama; Colombia; Guyana; Suriname; French Guiana; Peru; Bolivia.

Figures

FIGURES 61–68. Polistes spp. 61, 62. P. (Epicnemius) niger Brèthes. 63, 64. P. (E.) obscurus de Saussure. 65, 66. P. (E.) occipitalis Ducke. 67, 68. P. (E.) orlandoi Somavilla & Carpenter. 61, 63, 65, 67. Dorsal view. 62, 64, 66, 68. Lateral view. Scale bars: 5 mm.