Vespa mocsaryana

Taxonomy

Order: Hymenoptera
Family: Vespidae Laicharting, 1781
Subfamily: Vespinae Laicharting, 1781
Genus: Vespa Linnaeus, 1758
Species: Vespa mocsaryana du Buysson, 1905
Common names: no known common names

Background

Vespa mocsaryana is native to Southeast Asia. Not much is known about its biology (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27..

Distribution

Vespa mocsaryana is native to Meghalaya, Sikkim, Assam, Sichuan, Anhui, Fujian, Hong Kong, Myanmar, Thailand, Laos, Vietnam, peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27..

Diagnostic characteristics

To identify the genus:

• both pronotal and pretegular carinae present
• head vertexvertex:
  the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
  with the distance from posterior ocellusocellus:
  single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
  to the posterior margin of vertexvertex:
  the area between the ocelli and the back of the head
  more than twice the distance between the posterior ocelliocelli:
  single facet light reception organs; on the top of the adult head
  and the compound eye
• basal basal:
  originating at the foundation of a structure
  metasomal segment anteriorly rounded
• forewing forewing:
  the front wing attached to the middle thoracic segment
  prestigma three times or more as long as the pterostigma (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
  Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.

To identify the species:

• scutellar punctures small and separated by two puncture diameters
• metasomal tergumtergum:
  the segments on the top side of the abdomen, often abbreviated when referring to a speciifc segment, such as T1, T2, etc.
  2 mostly black (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
  Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.
• pronotal carina largely interrupted by the pronotal pit (Archer 2015)(Archer 2015):
  Bequaert J. 1936. The common Oriental hornets, Vespa tropica and Vespa affinis , and their color forms. Treubia 15 (4): 329ndash;351.

Biology/Life cycle

Little is known about the biology of V. mocsaryana. It has been found in montane forests where nests were found on a ceiling and in a shrub (Archer 2008)(Archer 2008):
Archer ME. 2008. Taxonomy, distribution and nesting biology of species of the genera Provespa Ashmead and Vespa Linnaeus (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Entomologistrsquo;s Monthly Magazine 144: 69ndash;101.. In northern Thailand nest combs have been observed to range in diameter from 2.5–5.3 in (7–13.5 cm) (Nakamura and Sonthichai 2004)(Nakamura and Sonthichai 2004):
Nakamura M amp; S Sonthichai. 2004. Nesting habits of some hornet species (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) in Northern Thailand. Agriculture and Natural Resource, 38 (2): 196ndash;206..

May be confused with

Vespa affinis

• V. mocsaryana scutellar punctures small and separated by two puncture diameters. V. affinis scutellar punctures large and contiguous or separated by one puncture diameter or less (Smith-Pardo et al. 2020)(Smith-Pardo et al. 2020):
  Smith-Pardo A., JM Carpenter amp; LS Kimsey. 2020. The diversity of hornets in the genus Vespa , their importance and interceptions in the United States. Insect Systematics and Diversity 4 (3): 1ndash;27.

Vespa fumida

• V. fumida has the aedeagus deeply emarginate apically, forming a stalked and triangular-shaped apexapex:
  end of any structure furthest from the head
  not seen in V. mocsaryana (Archer 2015)(Archer 2015):
  Bequaert J. 1936. The common Oriental hornets, Vespa tropica and Vespa affinis , and their color forms. Treubia 15 (4): 329ndash;351.

Vespa orientalis

• In V. mocsaryana pronotal carina largely interrupted by the pronotal pit, and in V. orientalis barely interrupted by the pronotal pit (Archer 2015)(Archer 2015):
  Bequaert J. 1936. The common Oriental hornets, Vespa tropica and Vespa affinis , and their color forms. Treubia 15 (4): 329ndash;351.

Known introductions

none