''Polistes bahamensis'' is a large
species
In biology, a species is the basic unit of classification and a taxonomic rank of an organism, as well as a unit of biodiversity. A species is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate s ...
of colourful
paper wasp
Paper wasps are Vespidae, vespid wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct nests made of gray or brown papery material. Some types of paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrell ...
in the genus ''
Polistes
Wasps of the cosmopolitan genus ''Polistes'' (the only genus in the tribe Polistini) are the most familiar of the polistine wasps, and are the most common type of paper wasp in North America. Walter Ebeling coined the vernacular name "umbrella ...
'' of the family
Vespidae
The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as ''Polistes fuscatus'', ''Vespa orientalis'', and ''Vespula germanica'') and many solitary wasps. Each ...
which occurs in the
Bahamas
The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...
,
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
and
Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.
It is also said to occur in Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
.
Taxonomy
It was first described as an endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
new species from the Bahamas by Joseph Charles Bequaert
Joseph Charles Bequaert was an American naturalist of Belgian origin, born 24 May 1886 in Torhout (Belgium) and died on 12 January 1982 in Amherst, Massachusetts. Clench WJ (1982). "Joseph Charles Bequaert". '' The Nautilus'' 96(2)page 35
Caree ...
and George Salt George Salt (12 December 1903, Loughborough, Leicestershire – 17 February 2003, Cambridge, UK) was an English entomologist and ecologist. (On p. 449 the phrase "Elected FRS 1965" contains a typographical error and should be "Elected FRS 1956".) H ...
in 1931, consisting of three varieties
Variety may refer to:
Arts and entertainment Entertainment formats
* Variety (radio)
* Variety show, in theater and television
Films
* ''Variety'' (1925 film), a German silent film directed by Ewald Andre Dupont
* ''Variety'' (1935 film), ...
based on geography and patterns of coloured markings, ''P. bahamensis'' var. ''bahamensis'', ''P. bahamensis'' var. ''bilineolatus'' and ''P. bahamensis'' var. ''picturatus''. The nominate
Nomination is part of the process of selecting a candidate for either election to a public office, or the bestowing of an honor or award. A collection of nominees narrowed from the full list of candidates is a short list.
Political office
In the ...
variety of ''bahamensis'' was reported to be an endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found elsew ...
of Andros Island
Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consis ...
, var. ''bilineolatus'' was only found in the central islands of New Providence
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
and Eleuthera
Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the s ...
, and var. ''picturatus'' was known from Acklins
Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas.
It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...
, Mariguana, Rum Cay
Rum Cay (formerly known as Mamana and Santa Maria de la Concepción) is an island and district of the Bahamas. It measures in area, it is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" - Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet (3 ...
, Crooked Island, Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, Watlings Island and Cat Island. In 1940 Bequaert subsumed the species and its three varieties under ''P. exclamans'', as well as described another new variety in that species, ''P. exclamans'' var. ''louisianus'', from three female specimens caught in .[
In 1955 the variety ''louisianus'' was synonymised with ''P. exclamans'' '']sensu stricto
''Sensu'' is a Latin word meaning "in the sense of". It is used in a number of fields including biology, geology, linguistics, semiotics, and law. Commonly it refers to how strictly or loosely an expression is used in describing any particular co ...
'' by Roy Snelling, who stated that after examining large amounts of the wasps from two nests recovered in New Orleans, the vast majority of the individual wasps were typical nominate forms of ''exclamans'', with only one or two individuals per nest displaying the colour patterns (reduced yellow markings) reported by Bequaert in 1940, and he furthermore states that he collected a single ''louisianus'' wasp in a very large colony of ''P. exclamans'' var. ''exclamans'' in Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
. Snelling also expanded the distribution of the taxon outside of the Bahamas by reporting on the presence of ''P. exclamans'' var. ''bahamensis'' in southern Florida, stating some, but not all, of the 21 wasps collected in the Royal Palm State Park, a wooded grove which has now become the nucleus of the Everglades
The Everglades is a natural region of tropical wetlands in the southern portion of the U.S. state of Florida, comprising the southern half of a large drainage basin within the Neotropical realm. The system begins near Orlando with the Kissimm ...
, and the nearby Archbold Biological Station
The Archbold Biological Station (ABS) is a research institute with a surrounding estate near Lake Placid, Florida, USA. It includes an extensive area of Florida scrub, a scientifically interesting and highly threatened ecosystem. It was establ ...
were somewhat different in colouration with ''bahamensis'', but that the collection of specimens as a whole integrated seamlessly with the colour pattern of insular specimens. Snelling continued to recognise the ''P. exclamans'' varieties ''bilineolatus'' and ''picturatus'' as Bahamanian endemics.[
Bequaert and Salt's three or four varieties were then treated as ]subspecies
In biological classification, subspecies is a rank below species, used for populations that live in different areas and vary in size, shape, or other physical characteristics (morphology), but that can successfully interbreed. Not all species ...
of ''P. exclamans'' by Owain Richards
Owain Westmacott Richards FRS (31 December 1901 – 10 November 1984) was a British entomologist and ecologist who worked as Professor of Zoology and Applied Entomology, Imperial College, London, based at Silwood Park, and an editor of the ''Jou ...
in 1978.
Karl Vorse Krombein was apparently the first to associate the variety ''louisianus'' with ''P. exclamans'' var. ''bahamensis'' in 1979, attributing the synonymy to Snelling. In 1983 Snelling chose to re-recognise ''P. bahamensis'' as a valid species again, and while doing so synonymised the subspecies ''bilineolatus'' and ''picturatus'' and "reiterated" his conclusion regarding the variety ''louisianus'' -although by 1983 he was stating that he had synonymised it with ''bahamensis'' in 1955 instead of ''P. exclamans'' var. ''exclamans''. By recognising the New Orleans specimens as ''bahamensis'' in 1983, Snelling effectively expanded the known distribution of this taxon hundreds of kilometres down the coast of the Gulf of Mexico
The Gulf of Mexico ( es, Golfo de México) is an oceanic basin, ocean basin and a marginal sea of the Atlantic Ocean, largely surrounded by the North American continent. It is bounded on the northeast, north and northwest by the Gulf Coast of ...
.[ As of 2017 Kons and Rowan consider that all or at least part of the US population should be split off into a separate species, ''P. louisianus''; -these writers believe that many ''Polistes'' species should be split into numerous ]sympatric
In biology, two related species or populations are considered sympatric when they exist in the same geographic area and thus frequently encounter one another. An initially interbreeding population that splits into two or more distinct species sh ...
species based on small differences in their body colour.
Etymology
The etymology
Etymology ()The New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998) – p. 633 "Etymology /ˌɛtɪˈmɒlədʒi/ the study of the class in words and the way their meanings have changed throughout time". is the study of the history of the Phonological chan ...
of the specific epithet
In taxonomy, binomial nomenclature ("two-term naming system"), also called nomenclature ("two-name naming system") or binary nomenclature, is a formal system of naming species of living things by giving each a name composed of two parts, bot ...
''bahamensis'' is from the place 'the Bahamas', combined with the Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power of the ...
suffix
In linguistics, a suffix is an affix which is placed after the stem of a word. Common examples are case endings, which indicate the grammatical case of nouns, adjectives, and verb endings, which form the conjugation of verbs. Suffixes can carry ...
''-ensis'', meaning 'of, or from, (a place)' or 'pertaining to', together forming an adjective with the meaning: 'of the Bahamas'.
Description
The identification of this species has always been very difficult. When Bequaert first examined the first three specimens from New Orleans around 1940, he at first thought them to be perhaps ''P. crinitus'' or ''P. versicolor'' introduced from the Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.[ Snelling examined the same population and classified it as ''P. exclamans'' var. ''exclamans'' in 1955.][
It has also been seen as very similar to ''P. annularis'', with which it shares a slender first ]metasoma
The metasoma is the posterior part of the body, or tagma, of arthropods whose body is composed of three parts, the other two being the prosoma and the mesosoma. In insects, it contains most of the digestive tract, respiratory system, and circula ...
l segment. It can be distinguished from this species by the yellow spot on the mesopleuron
The mesothorax is the middle of the three segments of the thorax of hexapods, and bears the second pair of legs. Its principal sclerites (exoskeletal plates) are the mesonotum (dorsal), the mesosternum (ventral), and the mesopleuron (lateral) on ...
, and almost always having a yellow apical band on the posterior (back) margin of the tergites
A ''tergum'' (Latin for "the back"; plural ''terga'', associated adjective tergal) is the dorsal ('upper') portion of an arthropod segment other than the head. The anterior edge is called the 'base' and posterior edge is called the 'apex' or 'mar ...
and more developed yellow markings on the mesosoma.[
]
Distribution
The known range has expanded as certain populations of wasps were determined to be this species, and with the collection of more specimens.
Bahamas
The first specimens were first collected on New Providence Island
New Providence is the most populous island in the Bahamas, containing more than 70% of the total population. It is the location of the national capital city of Nassau, whose boundaries are coincident with the island; it had a population of 246 ...
in 1909. Bequaert and Salt described the species in 1931 from specimens collected on Acklins
Acklins is an island and district of the Bahamas.
It is one of a group of islands arranged along a large, shallow lagoon called the Bight of Acklins, of which the largest are Crooked Island () in the north and Acklins () in the southeast, and ...
, Andros Island
Andros Island is an archipelago within the Bahamas, the largest of the Bahamian Islands. Politically considered a single island, Andros in total has an area greater than all the other 700 Bahamian islands combined. The land area of Andros consis ...
, Cat Island, Crooked Island, Eleuthera
Eleuthera () refers both to a single island in the archipelagic state of The Commonwealth of the Bahamas and to its associated group of smaller islands. Eleuthera forms a part of the Great Bahama Bank. The island of Eleuthera incorporates the s ...
, Long Island
Long Island is a densely populated island in the southeastern region of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, part of the New York metropolitan area. With over 8 million people, Long Island is the most populous island in the United Sta ...
, Mariguana, New Providence Island, Rum Cay
Rum Cay (formerly known as Mamana and Santa Maria de la Concepción) is an island and district of the Bahamas. It measures in area, it is located at Lat.: N23 42' 30" - Long.: W 74 50' 00". It has many rolling hills that rise to about 120 feet (3 ...
and Watlings Island.[ Specimens were first collected on ]Mayaguana
Mayaguana (from Taíno language ''Mayaguana'', meaning "Lesser Midwestern Land") is the easternmost island and district of The Bahamas. Its population was 277 in the 2010 census. It has an area of about .
About north of Great Inagua and southea ...
in 1996, and the reported range was extended further to Great Inagua
Inagua is the southernmost district of the Bahamas, comprising the islands of Great Inagua and Little Inagua. The headquarters for the district council are in Matthew Town.
History
The original settlers were the Lucayan people, who arrived some ...
in 2011, with the species now believed to occur on all the major islands of the Bahamas,
United States
Snelling first extended the range of this species to southern Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...
when he identified a group of specimens of wasps collected there since the late 1930s as belonging to this species in a 1955 article. The ''louisianus'' colour form described by Bequaert in 1940, considered a synonym of the nominate taxon of ''P. exclamans'' by Snelling at the time, was initially only known from , but Snelling also described having seen a single individual in a nest of ''P. exclamans'' in Kansas
Kansas () is a state in the Midwestern United States. Its capital is Topeka, and its largest city is Wichita. Kansas is a landlocked state bordered by Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the ...
.[ The taxon is included in the 1979 ''Catalog of Hymenoptera in America north of Mexico'', which for some reason does not include endemic varieties found in the Bahamas as found in America north of Mexico, as a subspecies of ''P. exclamans''. In this work ''louisianus'' is considered a synonym of ''P. exclamans'' var. ''bahamensis'', and the distribution is given as from "Louisiana to Florida".][
Snelling reported the presence of this taxon in the USA again in 1983, stating its range included Florida, ]Georgia
Georgia most commonly refers to:
* Georgia (country), a country in the Caucasus region of Eurasia
* Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the Southeast United States
Georgia may also refer to:
Places
Historical states and entities
* Related to the ...
and Louisiana
Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...
.[ A photograph of a number of wasps building a nest in coastal ]North Carolina
North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...
in 2017 has been identified as being of this species.[
]
Ecology
It has usually been recorded nesting under eaves
The eaves are the edges of the roof which overhang the face of a wall and, normally, project beyond the side of a building. The eaves form an overhang to throw water clear of the walls and may be highly decorated as part of an architectural styl ...
of roofs of buildings and sometimes under palm fronds.[ The nest is suspended from an attachment stalk known as a petiole.][
As of 2017, no ]Strepsiptera
The Strepsiptera are an order of insects with eleven extant families that include about 600 described species. They are endoparasites in other insects, such as bees, wasps, leafhoppers, silverfish, and cockroaches. Females of most species never ...
n parasites are reported for ''P. bahamensis''.
Conservation
It is quite common in the centre of its range, such as on New Providence Island, especially in urban areas such as the capital city Nassau
Nassau may refer to:
Places Bahamas
*Nassau, Bahamas, capital city of the Bahamas, on the island of New Providence
Canada
*Nassau District, renamed Home District, regional division in Upper Canada from 1788 to 1792
*Nassau Street (Winnipeg), ...
. In common with most species, the abundance diminishes at the edges of its distribution, being quite rare on Great Inagua and Mayaguana and "sporadic" along the Gulf Coast of Florida.[
The ]IUCN
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN; officially International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) is an international organization working in the field of nature conservation and sustainable use of natu ...
has not evaluated
A not evaluated (NE) species is one which has been categorized under the IUCN Red List of threatened species as not yet having been assessed by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
This conservation category is one of nine IUCN th ...
this species' conservation status
The conservation status of a group of organisms (for instance, a species) indicates whether the group still exists and how likely the group is to become extinct in the near future. Many factors are taken into account when assessing conservation ...
.[
It has been recorded as present in the following ]protected areas
Protected areas or conservation areas are locations which receive protection because of their recognized natural, ecological or cultural values. There are several kinds of protected areas, which vary by level of protection depending on the ena ...
:
*Archbold Biological Station
The Archbold Biological Station (ABS) is a research institute with a surrounding estate near Lake Placid, Florida, USA. It includes an extensive area of Florida scrub, a scientifically interesting and highly threatened ecosystem. It was establ ...
, Lake Placid, Highlands County
Highlands County is a county located in the Florida Heartland region of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 101,235. Its county seat is Sebring.
Highlands County comprises the Sebring-Avon Park, FL Metropolita ...
, Florida, USA.[
* Emeralda Marsh Conservation Area, Lake County, Florida, USA.][
* Inagua National Park, Great Inagua, the Bahamas.][
*]Everglades National Park
Everglades National Park is an American national park that protects the southern twenty percent of the original Everglades in Florida. The park is the largest tropical wilderness in the United States and the largest wilderness of any kind east ...
, Florida, USA.[
* Watermelon Pond Wildlife Management Area, ]Alachua County
Alachua County ( ) is a county in the north central portion of the U.S. state of Florida. As of the 2020 census, the population was 278,468. The county seat is Gainesville, the home of the University of Florida since 1906, when the campus ope ...
, Florida, USA.[
]
References
{{Taxonbar, from=Q14422670
bahamensis
Insects described in 1931