Superfamily VESPOIDEA 1521 



sulphurea (Saussure). Oreg., Calif., Nev., Ariz.; Mexico (Baja California). Ecology: Nests are 

 subterranean. 

 Vespa sulphurea Saussure, 1854. Etudes sur la famille des Vespides 2: 137. 9. 



Biology: Bequaert, 1931. Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 12: 112 (nest). 

 vidua (Saussure). N. S., N. B., Ont., in northeastern U. S. from Maine to N. Dak., south to Va. 

 and Iowa, south in Appalachian Mts. to N. C, Ga., mostly in Transition and U. Austral 

 Zones. Ecology: Nests are subterranean. Parasite: Sphecophaga vespai-um burra (Cr.); 

 Vespula squamosa (Dru.), the queen of which is a temporary social parasite. 

 Vespa vidua Saussure, 1854. Etudes sur la famille des Vespides, v. 2, p. 136. 



Biology: Taylor, 1939. Ent. Soc. Amer., Ann. 32: 310-313 (nest, parasitism by squamosa). 

 vulgaris (Linnaeus). Alaska, Canada, U. S. south to Calif., Ariz., N. Mex., S. Dak., Iowa, Ind., 

 111., Ohio, N. C, mostly in Canadian and Transition Zones; Mexico (Michoacan, Mexico); 

 widely distributed in Palaearctic Region; Ecology: Nests are usually subterranean or in 

 stumps with paper envelope present or absent; aerial nests are close to ground and 

 always with envelope, adventive in New Zealand. Parasite: Sphecophaga vesparum 

 burra (Cr.). May interbreed with maculifrons (Buyss.). 



Vespa vulgaris Linnaeus, 1758. Syst. Nat., ed. 10, v. 1, p. 572. 9. 



Vespa communis Saussure, 1857. Stettin. Ent. Ztg. 18: 117. 9. 



Vespa alasce7isis Packard, 1870. Chicago Acad. Sci., Trans. 2: 27. 9. 



Vespa westwoodii Shipp, 1893. Psyche 6: 450. 



Biology: Bequaert, 1931. Ent. Amer. (n. s.) 12: 92-93 (nest). — Balduf, 1968. Ent. Soc. Wash., 

 Proc. 70: 332-336, 1 fig. (nest, life history). 



Genus VESPULA Subgenus DOLICHOVESPULA Rohwer 



Dolichovespula Rohwer, 1916. Conn. State Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey, Bui. 22: 642. 



Type-species: Vespa maculata Linnaeus. Orig. desig. 

 P seudovespula Bischoft, 1931. Gesell. Naturf. Freunde Sitzber. (1930), p. 346. 



Type-species: Vespa noiivegica var. adulterina Buysson. Orig. desig. 

 Boreovespula Bluethgen, 1943. Stettin. Ent. Ztg. 104: 149. 



Type-species: Vespa norwegica Fabricius. Orig. desig. 

 Metavespula Bluethgen, 1943. Stettin. Ent. Ztg. 104: 149. 



Type-species: Vespa silvestris ScopoH. Orig. desig. 



Nests are usually aerial, suspended at some height or in bushes near the ground. Combs are 

 usually turned up at the margins so as to be concave above. 



albida (Sladen). Labrador, Newfoundland, Que., Maine, Man., Alta., B. C, N. W. T., Yukon 

 Terr., Alaska, chiefly in Hudsonian Zone. Ecology: Nests are small and subterranean. 

 Vespa marginata Kirby, 1837. Fauna Bor.-Amer., v. 4, p. 265. 9 . Preocc. 

 Vespa albida Sladen, 1918. Ottawa Nat. 32: 71. c?, ?. 



Biology: Sladen, 1919. Rpt. Canad. Arctic Exped. 1913-18, v. 3, p. 26g (nest). 

 arctica Rohwer. Newfoundland to Yukon Terr., Alaska, in lower U. S. chiefly in Canadian 

 Zone. Host: Vespula arenaria {¥.). The worker caste is absent. 

 Vespa borealis Lewis, 1897. Amer. Ent. Soc, Trans. 24: 171. 6,9. Preocc. 

 Vespula arctica Rohwer, 1916. Conn. State Geol. and Nat. Hist. Survey, Bui. 22: 642. N. 

 name. 



Biology: Wheeler and Taylor, 1921. Psyche 28: 135-144, 3 figs, (permanent social parasitism 



of arctica in nests of arenaria). —Wheeler, 1939. Ent. Soc. Amer., Ann. 32: 305-310 (social 



parasitism in arenaria nests). 

 arenaria (Fabricius). In Canada from Newfoundland to Yukon Terr., Alaska, in lower U. S. 

 transcontinental chiefly in Canadian and Transition ones. Ecology: Nests are usually 

 aerial but placed close to ground in shrubbery, occasionally under eaves or roofs, rarely 

 the nests may be attached to tree roots and only partly exposed. Parasite: Sphecophaga 

 vesparum burra (Cr.); Vespula arctica Roh. 



Vespa arenaria Fabricius, 1775. Systema Ent., p. 365. 



Vespa borealis Kirby, 1837. Fauna Bor.-Amer., v. 4, p. 264. Preocc. 



