Superfamily VESPOIDEA 1517 



swarms of fertile queens and workers. An average nest is subglobular, is enclosed in a single 

 sheet of papery material, is about 1 foot in diameter, contains about 50,000 cells arranged in 

 layers, has several entrances, and has spiral ramps connecting the tiers of cells. The adults col- 

 lect and store honey but do not cap the cells. 



Revision: Buysson, 1905. Soc. Ent. France, Ann. 74: 537-566, 6 pis. — Naumann, 1968. Kans. 

 Univ. Sci. Bui. 47: 929-1003, 69 figs. (New World spp.). 



mellifica (Say). Southern Tex. and Ariz, to Costa Rica and Panama (?). 



Polistes mellifica Say, 1837. Boston Jour. Nat. Hist. 1 (pt. 4): 390. 6, 9. 



Nectarina mellifera Dalla Torre, 1904. Gen. Ins., fasc. 19, p. 86. Emend. 



Chartergus aztecus Cameron, 1906. Invertebrata Pacifica 1: 154. 9. Preocc. 



Chartergus arizonaensis Cameron, 1907. Invertebrata Pacifica 1: 181. 9. 



Chartergus centralis Cameron, 1907. Invertebrata Pacifica 1: 181. 9. 



Nectarina cameroni Meade-Waldo, 1911. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. (8) 7: 112. N. name. 



Biology: Barber, 1905. Ent. Soc. Wash., Proc. 7: 25 (nest). — Schwarz, 1929. Nat. Hist. 29: 

 421-426, 5 figs, (nest, honey production). 



Genus POLYBIA Lepeletier 



Polybia Lepeletier, 1836. Hist. Nat. Ins. Hym., v. 1, p. 533. 



Type-species: Polistes liliacea Fabricius Desig. by Ashmead, 1902. 

 Myrapetra White, 1841. Ann. and Mag. Nat. Hist. 7: 320. 



Type-species: Myrapetra scutellaris White. Monotypic. 

 Myraptera Curtis, 1844. Linn. Soc. London, Proc, p. 188. Emend. 

 Alpha Saussure, 1853. Etudes sur la famille des Vespides, v. 2, p. 167. 



Type-species: Polybia bifasciata Saussure. Desig. by Bequaert, 1944. 

 Eupolybia Dalla Torre, 1904. In Wytsman, Gen. Ins., fasc. 19, p. 76. 



Type-species: Polistes liliacea Fabricius. Present desig. by Richards. 



The species of Polybia build phragmocyttarous nests which consist of one to many combs at- 

 tached to a branch, leaf or rock, surrounded by an envelope of carton or of mud containing an 

 exit hole at the side or bottom of the comb. A number of species enlarge the nest by adding suc- 

 cessive combs, each covered by the envelope, so that access to the upper combs is through the 

 exit-holes of earlier stages of the nest. Some of the taxa store large quantities of honey, or sex- 

 ual castes of ants or termites, some of which are fed to larvae and some of which maintain the 

 adults during hibernation. Larvae may also be fed on partially masticated insects. 



Taxonomy: Richards, 1951. In Richards and Richards, Royal Ent. Soc. London, Trans. 102: 

 129-150, figs. 11-16 (taxa allied to occidentalis (Oliv.) with key including the two taxa 

 occurring in America north of Mexico). 

 diguetana Buysson. Ariz. (Nogales); Mexico, Central America, Peru. Ecology: Buysson noted 

 that the nest was like that of typical occidentalis which consists of as many as 6 combs 

 surrounded by a carton envelope. 

 Polybia occidentalis var. diguetana Buysson, 1905. Soc. Ent. France, Bui, p. 9. 9, 5 , 6. 

 occidentalis nigrateila Buysson. Ariz. (Nogales); Mexico, Guatemala, Honduras. Typical 

 occidentalis (OHv.) occurs in South America. 

 Polybia occidentalis var. nigrateila Buysson, 1905. Soc. Ent. France, Bui., p. 9. 9, 5. 

 Polybia occidentalis nausicaa Richards, 1951. In Richards and Richards, Royal Ent. Soc. 

 London, Trans. 102: 140. 9, cJ. N. syn. (0. W. Richards). 



Subfamily VESPINAE 



This is morphologically the most specialized subfamily of the social wasps. Component species 

 are commonly called hornets (those nesting above ground in North America) and yellow jackets 

 (those nesting usually subterraneously). The nests consist of several to many combs of hex- 

 agonal cells composed of paper; cells constructed early in the year may be used for several lar- 

 vae in succession. The combs are usually enclosed in a paper envelope. The nests are annual, new 

 queens and males being produced late in the summer or early in the fall; the newly fertilized 

 queens overwinter and begin new nests in the spring. There are relatively few precise records 



