New records of social wasps (Hymenoptera: Vespinae: Vespa and Provespa) from Bhutan

• Main Authors: Phurpa Dorji, Thinley Gyeltshen, Wim Klein, Tshering Nidup
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: Wildlife Information Liaison Development Society 2017-04-01
• Series: Journal of Threatened Taxa
• Subjects: bhutan; maria basti; new record; padong; <i>provespa; vespa</i>
• Online Access: https://www.threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/2423

A total of eight species and subspecies of the genus Vespa, namely V. velutina nigrithorax du Buysson, 1905, V. basalis Smith, 1852, V. affinis affinis (Linnaeus, 1764), V. affinis indosinensis Pérez, 1910, V. mandarinia magnifica Smith, 1852, V. tropica leefmansi van der Vecht, 1957, V. bicolor Fabricius, 1787, V. analis nigrans du Buysson, 1903 along with Provespa barthelemyi (du Buysson, 1905) is recorded for the first time in Bhutan.  The current number of species in the genus Vespa and Provespa found in Bhutan stands at 14.  The records for V. mandarinia bellona Smith, 1871 and V. tropica tropica (Linnaeus, 1758) previously reported as from Maria Basti, Bhutan, must be confirmed.