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- ›Polistini
- ›Polistes
dominula-group Paper Wasps
Polistes
Polistes is a cosmopolitan genus of paper wasps and the only genus in the tribe Polistini. Vernacular names for the genus include umbrella wasps, coined by Walter Ebeling in 1975 to distinguish it from other types of paper wasp, in reference to the form of their nests, and umbrella paper wasps. Polistes is the single largest genus within the family Vespidae, with over 200 recognized species. Their innate preferences for nest-building sites leads them to commonly build nests on human habitation, where they can be very unwelcome; although generally not aggressive, they can be provoked into defending their nests. All species are predatory, and they may consume large numbers of caterpillars, in which respect they are generally considered beneficial.
27 branches of this group, most-observed first
European Paper Wasp
speciesPolistes dominula
Polistes nimpha
speciesPolistes nimpha
Asian Paper Wasp
speciesPolistes chinensis
French Paper Wasp
speciesPolistes gallicus
Polistes biglumis
speciesPolistes biglumis
Polistes badius
speciesPolistes badius
Mongolian Paper Wasp
speciesPolistes mongolicus
Polistes africanus
speciesPolistes africanus
Polistes marginalis
speciesPolistes marginalis
Polistes associus
speciesPolistes associus
Greek Paper Wasp
speciesPolistes albellus
Polistes semenowi
speciesPolistes semenowi
Polistes austroccidentalis
speciesPolistes austroccidentalis
Polistes bischoffi
speciesPolistes bischoffi
Polistes foederatus
speciesPolistes foederatus
Polistes riparius
speciesPolistes riparius
Polistes bucharensis
speciesPolistes bucharensis
Polistes atrimandibularis
speciesPolistes atrimandibularis
Polistes tenellus
speciesPolistes tenellus
Polistes albicinctus
speciesPolistes albicinctus
Polistes loveridgei
speciesPolistes loveridgei
Polistes ornatus
speciesPolistes ornatus
Polistes maroccanus
speciesPolistes maroccanus
Polistes indicus
speciesPolistes indicus
Polistes mysteriosus
speciesPolistes mysteriosus
Polistes iranus
speciesPolistes iranus
Polistes macrocephalus
speciesPolistes macrocephalus
Where it lives
Recorded sightings
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geo-referenced records in GBIF, from museums, herbaria and field observers.
Drag the globe to turn it. Dots are where records exist, not a range map; darker means more records.
In the stacks
Searching the stacks…
Every page naming Polistes in the Biodiversity Heritage Library →
This page is assembled live from iNaturalist, GBIF, Wikipedia, the Source Library and the Internet Archive. It is not yet part of the hand-edited codex. iNaturalist taxon 789375.