POLISTES GALUCUS IN MASSACHUSETTS 
(HYMENOPTERA: VESPIDAE)* 
By Mary A. Hathaway 
Museum of Comparative Zoology, 
Harvard University 
Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 USA 
Introduction 
Polistes gallicus (Linnaeus), a common and widespread paper 
wasp in the palearctic region, has been introduced into the United 
States in the Boston, Massachusets, area. During 1981 specimens 
were collected in Cambridge, Somerville, Belmont, and Newton, 
Massachusetts. P. gallicus was also collected in Cambridge in 1980, 
but was not seen in Belmont that year (R. J. McGinley, personal 
communication). Species identification was verified by Dr. Arnold 
S. Menke of the Systematic Entomology Laboratory of the United 
States Department of Agriculture. Presumably P. gallicus was only 
recently introduced; otherwise it would surely have been reported 
before this. It is a brightly colored and conspicuous wasp. 
The purpose of this paper is to report the introduction of Polistes 
gallicus. The biology of the species in the Old World is reviewed 
briefly, and some observations of the wasp in Massachusetts are 
reported. Information on how to recognize P. gallicus is also 
included. 
Biology of Polistes gallicus (Linnaeus) 
Polistes gallicus is ubiquitous in the palearctic region, especially 
in the south. It is the most common Polistes in Spain (Giner Mari, 
1945). The species’ range extends north to Paris, but gallicus 
becomes rare in far northern France. It exists in warmer parts of 
Belgium and Germany, but does not occur in England, Denmark, or 
Scandinavia (Guiglia, 1972). Spradbury (1973) states that occasion- 
ally Polistes are introduced into the British Isles, but for some 
reason the genus is not able to sustain itself there. To the south, the 
range of P. gallicus includes northern Africa, where the species is 
known from desert oases (Richards, 1953), and extends east through 
Israel and Iran. In Asia P. gallicus has been collected in southern 
♦Manuscript received by the editor September 29, 1981. 
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