Vespa auraria Smith, 1852

Sheikh, Altaf Hussain, Kumar, P. Girish, Thomas, Moni & Bhandari, Rita, 2017, Taxonomic studies on Vespid Wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespoidea: Vespidae) of Dumna Nature Park, Jabalpur, Madhya Pradesh, Records of the Zoological Survey of India 117 (3), pp. 198-198 : 198-

7. Vespa auraria Smith, 1852

1852. Vespa auraria Smith , 46. Type: Female , “Northern India ” ( BMNH) .

Diagnosis: Male: Clypeus moderately convex, its apical third depressed and punctate; temple less than 1.8x as wide as eye; posterior ocelli less than 3x farther from occiput than from eye; interocular distance shorter than ocellocular distance.

Colour Description: Body black with following reddish brown markings: head, pronotal collar posteriorly, pronotum, tegula, scutellum, two lateral spots on metanotum and propleuron ventrally. Antenna reddish brown. Mandible concolorous with clypeus except at apex including teeth black. Mesoscutum black with U-shaped mark touching scutellum. Fore leg yellowish brown except inner basal corner of coxa, trochanter and basally in front of femur black. Mid and hind legs black except at apex of femur, apex of tibia and tarsi entirely yellowish brown to yellow. Bases of T1 and T2 brownish black, their margins and visible part of following segments yellowish brown. Base of S2 brownish black, their margins and visible part of following sternites yellowish brown. Wings brownish hyaline. Body covered with fine blackish erect hairs; metasoma with velvet appearance.

Size (H+M+T1+T2): 15 mm.

Material examined: INDIA: Madhya Pradesh, Jabalpur district, Dumna Nature Park , 1♂, 15.xi.2015, Coll. Altaf Hussain Sheikh.

Distribution: India: Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Chhattisgarh, Jammu & Kashmir, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland, Punjab, Sikkim, Tripura, Uttarakhand, Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal. Elsewhere: Afghanistan, China, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Thailand, Yemen.