Vespula inexspectata Eck 1994

Landolt, Peter J., Sierra, José Monzón, Unruh, Thomas R. & Zack, Richard S., 2010, A new species of Ve s p u l a, and first record of Vespa crabro L. (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) from Guatemala, Central America, Zootaxa 2629, pp. 61-68 : 65-67

Vespula inexspectata Eck 1994

( Figs. 2 A, B, C, D)

Description. Head yellow and black. Antenna black. Vertex mostly black and ocular sinus mostly yellow with a black intrusion. Yellow extending down from ocular sinus between eye and antennal base. Gena yellow anteriorly from near top of eye to near mandible, but interrupted midway by patch of black, and black along entire posterior margin. Frons yellow from eye to eye, with a butterfly-shaped black mark centrally positioned. Carina of gena is complete from vertex to base of mandible. Clypeus yellow with central black patch from top to bottom, and black border at top as well as at bottom of clypeus only along protruding apex. Oculo-malar space short, less than the width of the antennal scape, and black. Mandible yellow.

Thorax mostly black with yellow markings. Pronotum black with yellow border at mesonotum. Mesonotum entirely black. Mesopleuron black with yellow patch beneath wing. Metanotum black with two yellow patches at lateral proximal corners. Coxae black. Fore leg with femur mostly black with yellow-brown distally, tibia yellow brown with two darker brown longitudinal marks, and tarsi light brown. Mid leg with femur nearly all black with some yellow brown distally, tibia yellow brown with two dark brown longitudinal markings. Tarsi light brown. Hind leg with femur nearly all black with some yellow-brown distally, tibia mostly dark brown with yellow patches. Tarsi light brown.

Propodeum black with yellow patch at each lateral proximal corner of dorsum. Gaster with each segment possessing black band proximally and yellow band distally. Yellow bands of gastral terga 2 to 5 of similar width. Yellow band of gastral tergum 1 narrower. Gaster segment 6 nearly entirely black, with some dark brown distally. Midline of dorsum of each black band with narrow posterior extension into yellow band.

Material examined. The holotype queen is labeled “W. Slope Popoca-Tepetl Mx. MEX. V-19 '59 -10000' H. E. Evans/ Vespula (V) vulgaris Linnaeus ) Det. 1960 C. D. Miller/ HOLOTYPUS Vespula inexspectata det. R. Eck 1994 / Holotype Cornell U. No. 6907.” The specimen is in good condition; holotype label is red and hand-written except for HOLOTYPUS, which is printed; it is deposited in the Cornell University Insect Collection. A worker paratype is labeled “ MEXICO Mexico #16 13 mi. E. Sta. Barbara 16 Aug. 1969 10200' GeorgeW. Byers/ Paratype /det. R. Eck 1994.” The specimen is in good condition and is deposited in the Snow Entomological Collection at the University of Kansas.

Vespa crabro . A worker of V. c r a b ro was located in the Entomological Collection of the Universidad del Valle de Guatemala. The collection locality is Guatemala City. Vespa crabro is widely distributed in temperate areas of Europe and Asia ( Carpenter and Kojima 1997) and has been introduced into eastern North America where it is now widespread ( Shaw and Weidhaus 1956). This Guatemalan specimen may have been an accidental introduction and V. crabro is not known to be established in Guatemala.

Vespinae of Central America. Eight species of Ve s pu l a are now reported south of the U.S. border; in Mexico and Central America. Carpenter and Kojima (1997) cite Mexican collection records for V. atropilosa (Sladen) , V. pensylvanica , and V. sulphurea (Saussure) in northwest Mexico (Baja California Norte), V. maculifrons in northeast Mexico, V. v u l g a r i s (= V. alascensis ) in the central highlands, V. squamosa from the Texas border south through Mexico and in Guatemala, and V. inexspectata from two sites in central Mexico. Vespula squamosa is also reported from Honduras ( Hunt et al. 2001) and Landolt et al. (2009) report records for the same species in Guatemala. We herein report Vespula akrei sp. nov. in Guatemala.

Adventive species of Ve sp a are not yet known to be established in the Americas south of Georgia ( United States). A single specimen of Vespa orientalis L. was recently reported from Cozumel on the Pacific coast of Mexico ( Dvorak 2006) and we report a single specimen of V. c r a b ro from Guatemala City, but there is no evidence of establishment of either species at these sites.

Figures

FIGURE 2. Vespula inexpectata A. gastral coloration, dorsal view; B. frontal view of head, C. dorsal view of head, and D. lateral view of head.