HYMENOPTERA :: Vespidae :: Polistinae :: Polistes

Polistes jokahamae Radszkowski, 1887

Appearance

Workers body length 17–18 mm, males, 18–19 mm.

Mostly dark orange coloured, with black mesopleuron, metapleuron and coxae. Clypeus broad. Mesosoma with epicnemial carina, dorsal groove, scrobal sulcus, and mesopleural signum present. 

Biology

Feed on a variety of caterpillars as food provision for its larvae and plant nectar or plant fluids for adult feeding. Nests exposed, one-sided symmetrical and compact. Paper comb construction with central pedicel. Cells not specialised. Nesting sites often associated with human dwellings. Colony small to medium size. Rare wasp in Hong Kong. This species has been recorded only in the northern New Territories.

Sources

Barthélémy, C. A. Provisional Identification Guide to the Social Vespids of Hong Kong (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Available online: http://insectahk.com

Barthélémy C & Guénard B. 2025. An annotated and illustrated checklist of Hong Kong aculeate wasps (Hymenoptera: Apoid wasps; Pompilioidea; Scolioidea; Thynnoidea; Tiphioidea; Vespoidea; Chrysidoidea). Insecta Mundi 1115: 1–230.

Carpenter J. 1996. Distributional Checklist of Species of the Genus Polistes (Hymenoptera: Vespidae; Polistinae, Polistini). American Museum Novitates. 3188: 1–39. 

GBIF.org (17 June 2024) GBIF Occurrence https://doi.org/10.15468/dl.dvpehw