Nest structure and all stages of the long-cheeked yellow jacket Dolichovespula intermedia Birula (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

ABSTRACT

Nest structure, morphology of all stages and behaviour have contributed to the phylogenetic and taxonomic studies of social vespids. Two aerial nests of Dolichovespula intermedia were discovered in China. The morphology of the three castes, the five larval instars, and the nest structure of D. intermedia Birula, are described in detail and illustrated. The presence of only one campaniform sensillum above each labial palp and the dense minute spicules on the posterior gena found in D. intermedia larvae are mentioned here for the first time for Dolichovespula. The identification characters between D. intermedia and Dolichovespula sylvestris are briefly discussed.

KEYWORDS:

• Colony
• larval instars
• morphology
• Vespinae

Acknowledgements

We gratefully acknowledge Dr Kees van Achterberg for comments and suggestions on this manuscript. The research was supported jointly by the National Nature Science Foundation of China (NSFC, No. 31201732, 31572300, 31872263), the Northwest University Graduate student Programme for Independent Innovation (No. YZZ17160, YZZ15064), Shaanxi Provincial Undergraduate Training Programme for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, China (No. 20171558).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation of China [31201732, 31572300, 31872263].