A new species of the paper wasp genus Polistes (Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae) in Europe revealed by morphometrics and molecular analyses

By

Neumeyer, Rainer
Baur, Hannes.
Guex, Gaston-Denis
Praz, Christophe J.

Type

Article

Date of Publication

2014

Original Publication

ZooKeys

Volume

400

Pages

67-118

Subjects

allometry , cryptic species , Cytochrome oxidase 1 , DNA barcoding , ITS , LDA ratio extractor , linear discriminant analysis , principal component analysis , ratio spectrum , shape PCA , Switzerland

Contributed by

Pensoft Publishers

Language

English

Published by

Sofia, Bulgaria Pensoft Publishers

Identifiers

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3897/zookeys.400.6611

 

Abstract

We combine multivariate ratio analysis (MRA) of body measurements and analyses of mitochondrial and nuclear data to examine the status of several species of European paper wasps (Polistes Latreille, 1802) closely related to P. gallicus. Our analyses unambiguously reveal the presence of a cryptic species in Europe, as two distinct species can be recognized in what has hitherto been considered Polistes bischoffi Weyrauch, 1937. One species is almost as light coloured as P. gallicus, and is mainly recorded from Southern Europe and Western Asia. The other species is darker and has a more northern distribution in Central Europe. Both species occur syntopically in Switzerland. Given that the lost lectotype of P. bischoffi originated from Sardinia, we selected a female of the southern species as a neotype. The northern species is described as P. helveticus sp. n. here. We also provide a redescription of P. bischoffi rev. stat. and an identification key including three more closely related species, P. biglumis, P. gallicus and P. hellenicus.