Polistes pacificus
| Polistes pacificus | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Subfamily: | Polistinae |
| Tribe: | Polistini |
| Genus: | Polistes |
| Species: | P. pacificus |
| Binomial name | |
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Polistes pacificus (Fabricius, 1804) |
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| Synonyms | |
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Polistes pacificus is a Neotropical species of social paper wasp belonging to the subfamily Polistinae and the family Vespidae.P. pacificus can be found distributed throughout most of Central and South America and parts of southern North America. First discovered by Johan Christian Fabricius in 1804, P. pacificus is much darker in color than some other more recognizable Polistes wasps, and is one of the insects commonly eaten by several indigenous groups in Venezuela and Colombia.
P. pacificus is part of a monophyletic clade that makes up the membership of Richards’ (1973, 1978) subgenera Epicnemius.P. pacificus is most closely related to its sister species, P. cinerascens. Although previous studies found Epicnemius to be paraphyletic, the most recent and complete study done by Picket et al. reveals that it is likely monophyletic. The species included in this clade are P. cinerascens, P. pacificus, P. geminatus geminatus, P. occipitalis, P. testaceicolor.
P. pacificus was originally discovered in 1804 by the famous Danish entomologist, Johan Christian Fabricius (1745-1808). However, because P. pacificus has wide color variation depending on its geographic region, over time it has been mistaken for several new species and given new names. These names included P. flavipictus Ducke, 1918 P. liliaceusculus de Saussure, 1854, P. liliaciosus de Saussure, 1855, P. modestus Smith, 1862, P. trinitatis Bequard, 1937. These names are relatively obsolete, but may appear in erroneous or outdated literature.
P. pacificus has varied coloration patterns with markings that can be black, ferruginous and yellow. It is darker and less brightly colored than most other Polistes species, and it is morphologically very similar to P. boharti. In fact, the two species are classified as the same under Richard's key. However, there are some distinguishing characteristics between the two: Firstly, the digitus structure of the genitalia of P. pacificus males has many dark, stout, distally curved or hooked setae. Secondly, female P. pacificus will have a genal ridge that is usually weak below, and rarely reaches below the level of the lower one-fifth to one-fourth of the eye; on the rare occasions that it extends below this level, it will most likely not reach the base of the mandible and will be very weak. Additionally, in P. pacificus, the lobate humeral angle is not defined, and the lower lateral extension of the pronotal ridge will not be depressed.
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