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

Abstract

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 Perez, 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 belhna Smith, 1871 and V tropica tropica (Linnaeus, 1758) previously reported as from Maria Basti, Bhutan, must be confirmed.