General Information

COMMON NAMES: Yellow Paper-Wasp, Yellow Oriental Paper-Wasp, Redbrown Paper-Wasp; German Feldwespe TRADITIONAL NAMES: Rango Patia / Rango Pao (RR), Rango Pao (MG), Koonga (AT), Ko‘onga (MK MT), Rango Pātia (AK) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - e.Asia; EXOTIC EXOTIC e.Africa - Marquesas, Easter Is.; Hawai‘i COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent, Naturalised; S.Group - widespread; N.Group ?absent; Land, lowlands to mid-montane (c.300m) SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous sting - serious KEY FEATURES: Large, 20mm TL. THORAX dorsal shield black with two long and wide longitudinal yellow stripes, expanded anteriorly, and yellow patches laterally; anteo-lateral plates yellow rimmed with dark centres; posterior plate orange-brown with posterior yellow bar; WAIST mainly yellow, with black lines; ABDOMEN anterior yellow, 2nd seg red yellow with fine black band, remainder yellow with black bands. WINGS yellow. LEGS yellow-brown (male - inner seg. with black). SIMILAR SPECIES: Dark-waist Paper-Hornet (Polistes jadwigae) has overall black waist (vs. mainly yellow); thorax-shield black with two uniformly-narrow parallel lines (vs two anteriorly expanded wide parallel lines); wings smoky-brown (vs yellow).

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

Southern Group: Present    Makatea: Present
RR	MG	AT	MK	MT	AK	PL	TK	MN
++++	+++	+++	+++	+++	+++

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
-			-		++

Polistes olivaceus (DeGeer, 1773)
SYNONYMS: Vespa olivacea DeGeer, 1773; Polistes hebraeus Fabricius, 1787; Polistes macaensis (Fabricius, 1793)

TAXONOMY: ANIMALIA; ARTHROPODA; ATELOCERATA; HEXAPODA; INSECTA; PTERYGOTA; Hymenoptera; Apocrita; Aculeata; Vespoidea; VESPIDAE sf.Polistinae

SIGNIFICANCE NOTES -
NEGATIVE SIGNIFICANCE: Poisonous sting - serious. Comments: NBSAP - Takitumu (7 of 9 animal pests), NBSAP - Mitiaro (7 of 9 animals)

GENERAL NOTE: Nest of chewed wood fibre attached by a narrow stalk under leaves and branches, or building overhands.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimens+photo, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus; specimens, Arorangi upper beach, fallow land and on Raemaru, 2004/9, M.Kuhlmann, in 2006 paper as Polistes olivaceus; Mangaia specimens, Ivirua, on makatea 30m elev., 2004/9, M.Kuhlmann with ID as Polistes olivaceus. Atiu: fieldspecimens, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus; Mauke: fieldspecimens, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus; Mitiaro: fieldspecimens, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus; Aitutaki: fieldspecimens, 1980s, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus; Tongareva: not found, 2001/01, G.McCormack. Pukapuka: not found, 2004, G.McCormack. Suwarrow: fieldspecimens, 1985, G.McCormack with ID as Polistes olivaceus;

References:
Special Reference: Kuhlmann, M. (2006) Fauna and Biogeography of the Bees and Wasps of the Cook Islands (Hymenoptera Aculeata), J. Hym. Res. 15(1):26-37.

Data Update History (information):
zTX, zB02, zM02, zD02

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