A REVIEW OF THE SUBSPECIES CONCEPT 
IN THE EUMENINE GENUS ZETA 
(HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE)* 
By James M. Carpenter 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, Harvard University, 
Cambridge, MA 02138 
Menke and Stange (1986) reported the establishment of the potter 
wasp Zeta argillaceum argillaceum (L.) in Dade County, Florida. 
This is the first species of this neotropical genus to be found in the 
United States. While identifying a small collection of Florida eume- 
nines for Dr. Peter J. Landolt of the USD A Insect Attractants Lab 
in Gainesville, I discovered an additional specimen of this species 
from Dade County. It represents a color form, or “subspecies”, 
different from that reported by Menke and Stange (1986). In this 
note I discuss recognition of subspecies in Zeta, and demonstrate that 
most are artificial taxa. Plasticity in coloration is a common phe- 
nomenon in Hymenoptera, and has even been shown to be experi- 
mentally manipulate in Vespidae (Mac Lean et al., 1978). Yet 
recognition of subspecies purely on the basis of color differences 
remains a common practice in vespids, including Zeta, and other 
aculeates. The recent revision of the genus by Giordani Soika (1975) 
recognizes only four species in Zeta, but these are divided into no 
fewer than 15 subspecies, 10 of which are in argillaceum! These are 
all based on color, and in the continental forms the distributions 
frequently overlap. I have examined most of these “subspecies”, and 
conclude that they do not merit formal recognition. Most of them 
are synonymized below. I have not treated the subspecies of the 
Antillean abdominale. Acronyms for collections are those of 
Heppner and Lamas (1982). 
Zeta argillaceum (L.) 
Sphex argillacea Linnaeus, 1758: 569. (type 9 BMNH) — “Surinami.” 
Vespa canaliculata Olivier, 1792: 672. Type depository unknown — “Cayenne.” 
Vespa diadema Fabricius, 1798: 263. (ZMUC) — “Cajennae.” 
* Manuscript received by the editor June 3, 1987 
253 
