General Information

COMMON NAMES: Dark-waist Paper-Wasp TRADITIONAL NAMES: Rango Patia / Rango Pao (RR), Rango Pao (MG), Koonga (AT), Rango Pātia (AK) GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION: NATIVE India - Japan; EXOTIC EXOTIC ? - Cooks - Tuamotu - Pitcairn; Hawai‘i. COOK ISLANDS STATUS: Introduced - Recent (first record 1925), Naturalised; S.Group - uncommon; N.Group ?; Land, lowlands to mid-montane (c.300m) SIGNIFICANCE LIST: ; Poisonous sting - serious KEY FEATURES: Wasp to 25mmTL. Orange-brown with black waist, thorax, abdominal bands and upper legs; wings translucent brown. Black thorax-shield with two pale lines central and parallel. SIMILAR SPECIES: See under Polistes olivaceus.

Cook Islands Distribution

View Distribution Map

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

Northern Group:
TN	MH	RK	PK	NS	SW
			-

Polistes jokahamae Radoszkowski, 1887
SYNONYMS: Polistes jadwigae Dalla Torre, 1904 [this DB until 8/Apr/2006]

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

IDENTIFICATION: Large, 25mm TL. THORAX dorsal shield black with two central longitudinal orange-brown stripes, anteo-lateral plates orange-brown, posterior plate orange-brown with posterior yellow bar; WAIST black; ABDOMEN anterior black, 2nd seg red black and yellow, remainder black and yellow. WINGS transparent-smoky. LEGS blackseg.1, hindleg black segs.1-2, outers yellow.

Vouchers:
Rarotonga: specimen+photo, Avana valley, May/2002, GMcC, ID Tino Gonsalves BPBM as Polistes jadwigae, re-ID Kuhlmann 2006 as Polistes jokahamae; FIRST RECORD - two specimens BPBM, Apr/1925, Rarotonga, G.Wilder; two specimens BPBM, Dec/1977, Titikaveka, lowlands, N.L.H.Krauss; four specimens BPBM, Dec/1977, Avarua lowlands, N.L.H.Krauss; 4 specimens, Arorangi, 2004/9, M.Kuhlmann with ID by James Carpenter (AMNH) as Polistes jokahamae. Mangaia 8 specimens, Ivirua, on makatea, 2004/9, M.Kuhlmann with ID by James Carpenter (AMNH) as Polistes jokahamae. Atiu: two specimens BPBM, Nov/1977, central plateau, N.L.H.Krauss, as Polistes jadwigae, re-ID Kuhlmann 2006 as Polistes jokahamae. Aitutaki: six specimens BPBM, Feb/1960, no location, N.L.H.Krauss; one specimen BPBM, Nov/77, Tautu, N.L.H.Krauss, as Polistes jadwigae, re-ID Kuhlmann 2006 as Polistes jokahamae.

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, zupB06a, zM02, zD02

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