Polistes longus Nguyen & Carpenter, 2019

Nguyen, Lien Thi Phuong & Carpenter, James M., 2019, Taxonomic notes on the paper wasps of the subgenus Polistes (Gyrostoma) (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) occurring in Vietnam, with description of a new species, Journal of Hymenoptera Research 74, pp. 51-64 : 51

(5) Polistes longus Nguyen & Carpenter sp. nov.

Figs 13-18 , 21 , 22

Material examined.

Holotype, ♀, Vietnam: Ia Pal, Chu Se , Gia Lai, 13°39'46.2"N, 108°08'04.2"E, alt. 370 m, Nest #2012-TN-P-04, 25 Jul. 2012, LTP Nguyen leg., deposited in IEBR . Paratypes: 30 ♀, same data as holotye .

Other material examined.

3 ♀, Binh Thuan , Ham Thuan Nam, 10°51'07.7"N, 109°53'59.8"E, 11 Aug. 2005, LTP Nguyen & J Kojima leg. ; 2 ♀ Kon Tum , Kon Tum City, 20 Jul. 2012, LPT Nguyen leg. ; Gia Lai [10 ♀, Ia Pal, Chu Se, 13°39'46.2"N, 108°08'04.2"E, alt. 370 m, Nest#2012-TN-P-04, 3 ♀, Ia Pal, Chu Se, 21-25 Jul. 2012, ISD-c leg.; 3 ♀, Chu Se, 14 Apr. 2013, LTP Nguyen leg.; 1 ♀, Ayun Pa, Ia Rto, 13°21'49.6"N, 108°30'06.4"E, alt. 200 m, 1 May 2016, LPT Nguyen, DD Nguyen, NT Tran leg.; 8 ♀, Chu Se, Ia Pal, 13°39'46.2"N, 108°08'04.2"E, alt. 370 m, 21 Jul. 2012, LTP Nguyen leg.] ; 1 ♀, Dak Lak , Nam N Jang, 24 Jul. 2012, ISD-c leg .

Description.

Female. Body length 17.7-19.5 mm (holotype 19 mm); fore wing length 19.5-21.5 mm (holotype 21 mm).

Head in frontal view about 1.12 × as wide as high ( Fig. 13 ); in dorsal view weakly swollen laterally behind eyes, then narrowed posteriorly, with posterior margin shallowly and broadly emarginate. Vertex ( Fig. 14 ) slightly raised in area among ocelli, slightly sloped down behind posterior ocelli towards occipital carina; POD: OOD = about 1:1.7; POD about 1.5 times Od. Gena wider than eye, in lateral view 1.2 × as wide as eye ( Fig. 15 ). Occipital carina complete, clearly present along entire length of gena. Inner eye margins slightly convergent ventrally, in frontal view distance of inner eye margins at clypeus 1.1 × than those at vertex ( Fig. 13 ). Antennal sockets closer to inner eye margin than to each other; anterior tentorial pit slightly further apart from inner eye margin than from antennal socket; interantennal space strongly raised. Clypeus in frontal view ( Fig. 13 ) nearly as wide as high, produced ventrally into blunt angle, in lateral view weakly swollen anteriorly ( Fig. 15 ); length of lateral margin of clypeus lying along inner eye margin longer than diameter of antennal socket and slightly shorter than the length of malar space. Antennal scape 3 × as long as its maximum width; FI 3.1 × as long as its maximum width, FII-IV as long as wide, FV-IX wider than long, FX bullet-shaped, 1.3 × as long as its basal width.

Pronotal carina raised, produced dorsally into lamella in dorsal part, slightly sinuate backward on lateral side, reaching ventral corner of pronotum. Mesoscutum in lateral view weakly convex, about 1.16 × as long as wide between tegulae; anterior margin broadly rounded. Scutellum flattened, slightly depressed in the middle, in lateral view slightly higher at the level of mesoscutum, strongly depressed along anterior margin. Metanotum weakly convex, disc nearly flat but strongly depressed anterior margin. Propodeum short ( Fig. 16 ); posterior face narrowly (about one third the maximum width of propodeum) and strongly excavated medially, more or less smoothly passing into lateral faces; propodeal orifice elongate, about 2.8 times as long as wide (measured at widest part), somewhat narrowed in dorsal half. Wings hyaline.

TI short and thick, about 0.9 times as long as its apical width, in lateral view abruptly swollen dorsally just behind basal slit for reception of propodeal suspensory ligament; corner between anterior and dorsal faces bluntly angled ( Fig. 17 ). SII in lateral view swollen ventrally in smoothly curved line from base to apical margin.

Clypeus with scattered large punctures, each bearing sharply pointed golden bristle. Mandible with several small and shallow punctures at base and deep punctures at anterior margin. Frons covered with small and shallow punctures. Vertex and gena with minute punctures, area around ocelli with minute punctures; ventral one third of gena with large and shallow punctures. Pronotum with medium deep punctures. Mesoscutum sparsely with deep punctures; punctures on scutellum and metanotum similar to those on mesoscutum. Mesepisternum with sparse large and deep punctures in posterodorsal part, scattered shallow punctured in anteroventral part; border between posterodorsal and anteroventral parts indistinct. Dorsal metapleuron with some strong striae and shallow large punctures; ventral metapleuron with sparse strong punctures. Propodeum with strong transverse striae. Metasomal segments ( Fig. 18 ) covered with minute punctures. Dark reddish brown; following parts yellow to orange-yellow: clypeus up to front except black strip between antennal socket, mandible except apical and lateral margins, lower part of gena near mandible; apical margin of pronotum along pronotal carina, a narrow transverse band near apical margin of T1, all tarsae; following parts black: propodeum except 4 large reddish brown mark, valvula, a narrow transverse strip at two third from base of T1, some mark on T2-6; hind leg (except yellow tarsa).

Male. Unknown.

Distribution.

South Vietnam.

Remarks.

This species comes close to P. rothneyi but it is different from the latter by the female clypeus nearly as wide as high (slightly wider than high in P. rothneyi ), dorsal two thirds of the gena without medium punctures (dorsal two thirds of the gena with sparse and medium punctures in P. rothneyi ), propodeum with posterior face narrowly and strongly excavated medially (propodeum with posterior face widely and more shallowly excavated medially in P. rothneyi ).

Etymology.

The specific name refers to the very long cells of the nest.

Nest.

A nest (Nest#2012-TN-P-04) ( Figs 21 , 22 ) collected in Ia Pal, Chu Se, Gia Lai was examined.

The nest was attached to a thin branch of a shrub about 0.5 m above the ground. The nest characteristics are as follows: Petiole lost during collecting, but the remaining part showed that it is single, nearly central. Comb rather tough, pliable paper-like in texture, more or less uniformly brown in cell walls, subcircular (about 22 mm × 20 mm) in view from side of cell opening, dorsal surface dome shape. Cells arranged in regular rows and round at open end; cell expanded towards open end, 6.3 mm (range 6.0-6.9 mm; n = 10) wide at bottom and 7.3 mm (range 7.0-7.5 mm; n = 10) wide at open end, 16.3 mm (range 16.1-16.9 mm; n = 10) deep; cell wall about 0.03 mm thick. Cocoon caps very long (range 20-42mm), white.

Figures

Figures 13 - 18. Polistes longus sp. nov., holotype female 13 head, frontal view 14 head, lateral view 15 vertex, dorsal view 16 propodeum, dorsal view 17 T 1, lateral view 18 abdomen, dorsal view. Scale bars: 1 mm.

Figures 19 - 22. Nest of Gyrostoma species. 19, 20 Nest of P. gigas 21, 22 Nest of P. longus sp. nov.