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Polistinae

Subfamily of insects

Summary

Subfamily of insects

Epiponini

Mischocyttarini

Polistini

Ropalidiini The Polistinae is a subfamily of eusocial wasps belonging to the family Vespidae. They are closely related to the yellowjackets and true hornets of the subfamily Vespinae and are divided into four tribes. With about 1,100 species total, it is the second-most diverse subfamily within the Vespidae, and while most species are tropical or subtropical, they include some of the most frequently encountered large wasps in temperate regions.

The English common name for Polistinae is paper wasp. Many polistines, such as Polistes fuscatus, Polistes annularis, and Polistes exclamans, make their nests out of paper. Despite being called paper wasps, other wasps (including the wasps in the subfamily Vespinae) also build nests out of paper. Additionally, epiponine wasps in the subgenus Polybia (Pedothoeca), such as Polybia emaciata, build their nests out of mud despite being Polistinae.

Polistes annularis suspends its paper nests from cliff overhangs via a pedicel, whose free fatty acids induce the necrophobic response in ants and causes them to avoid the pedicel rather than cross and prey on the nest's inhabitants. Polistes metricus foragers take off from their nests as if they already know how long their trip is. For short flights, they exit the nest flying horizontally, while for long flights they exit the nest flying straight up into a high altitude before pursuing their direction. Polistine brood cells are arranged in a hexagonal array, similar to the comb structure in a honey bee nest. Some species of the epiponine genera Polybia and Brachygastra store honey in the comb, among the few insects other than bees to store honey (also some ants store honey in their bodies).

Characteristics

Characteristics of the Polistinae are:

The queens (reproductive females) are morphologically similar to workers, though sometimes slightly larger or differently colored.
The abdomen is spindle-shaped, often petiolate.
The antennae of males are curled.
The nest is sometimes open (the nests of vespines are always enclosed in several layers of paper).

Colony life cycle

Polistine wasps found colonies in one of two ways. In some species, nests are founded by a small number of reproductive females, possibly a single one. One of the foundresses eventually acquires dominance over the other and is the sole reproducer. The nest is open (not enclosed by an envelope) and contains a single comb.

In the other group, called "swarm-founding", the nest is founded by a large number of workers and a few queens. It is usually protected by an envelope, like a vespine nest.

Genera

Tribe [[Epiponini]] Lucas, 1867

Genus Agelaia Lepeletier, 1836
Genus Angiopolybia Araujo, 1946
Genus Apoica Lepeletier, 1836
Genus Asteloeca Raw, 1985
Genus Brachygastra Perty, 1833
Genus Chartergellus Bequaert, 1938
Genus Charterginus Fox, 1898
Genus Chartergus Lepeletier, 1836
Genus Clypearia de Saussure, 1854
Genus Epipona Latreille, 1802
Genus* Leipomeles* Möbius, 1856
Genus* Metapolybia* Ducke, 1905
Genus* Nectarinella* Bequaert, 1938
Genus Parachartergus R. von Ihering, 1904
Genus Polybia Lepeletier, 1836
Genus* Protonectarina* Ducke, 1910
Genus* Protopolybia* Ducke, 1905
Genus* Pseudopolybia* de Saussure, 1863
Genus Synoeca de Saussure, 1852

Tribe [[Mischocyttarini]] Carpenter, 1993

Genus Mischocyttarus Saussure, 1853

Tribe [[Polistini]] Lepeletier, 1836

Genus Polistes Latreille, 1802

Tribe [[Ropalidiini]] Bequaert, 1918

Genus Belonogaster de Saussure, 1854
Genus Parapolybia de Saussure, 1854
Genus Polybioides du Buysson, 1913
Genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville, 1831
†Genus Oligoropalidia Engel, Nguyen, & Nel, 2024

Tribe ''[[incertae sedis]]''

†Genus Palaeopolistes Perrard, 2014
†Genus Palaeopolybia Antropov, 2014
†Genus Protopolistes Antropov, 2014

Gallery

Nido de avispas "Lambe Ojitos". Género Polybia..JPG|Nest of Polybia occidentalis honey-making wasps South American Wasp Nest St Louis Zoo IMG 1093 061116 114424.jpg|South American Chartergus globiventris nest

References

(2002). "The nest as fortress: defensive behavior of ''Polybia emaciata'', a mud-nesting eusocial wasp.". Journal of Insect Science.
Espelie, Karl. (1990). "Surface lipids of the social wasp ''Polistes annularis'' (L.) and its nest and nest pedicel". Journal of Chemical Ecology.
(1978). "Foraging flights of two species of ''Polistes'' wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)". Journal of the Kansas Entomological Society.

Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

vespidae apocrita-subfamilies

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