Occurrence of Vespa velutina Lepeletier from Korea, and a revised key for Korean Vespa species (Hymenoptera: Vespidae)

Abstract

This is the first report of occurrence of Vespa velutina Lepeletier from Korea. The diagnosis and taxonomic relationship between geographical subspecies is provided, with a revised key to complement the previous taxonomic information of Korean Vespa species. The ecological aspect of the species is also discussed.

Occurrence of Hymenoptera (wasps and bees) and their foraging in the southwestern part of Jirisan National Park, South Korea

“…The Vespidae occurring in the forested areas of South Korea showed no significant differences in species composition according to the collection sites (Choi et al 2012a(Choi et al , 2012b(Choi et al , 2014. However, V. velutina in South Korea in 2003, its abundance has been rapidly increasing (Kim et al 2006, Choi et al 2012a, Jung 2012. According to Choi et al (2013), its range expanded to JNP in 2011.…”

“…This phenomenon seems to be caused by a decline in honey productivity because of sacbrood virus disease and an increase in the abundance of natural honeybee enemies (Kim et al 2006. The best-known natural enemies of honeybees are hornets (Vespa species), which are common worldwide and cause constant damage to apiculture.…”

Vespa velutina Lepeletier, 1836 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae): first records in Iberian Peninsula

“…It is known to occur in: China (South and Central provinces, Hong Kong), India (northeast), Indonesia (Java, Sumatra, South Sulawesi and Lesser Sunda Islands), Malaysia (Peninsular) and Taiwan (Archer, 1989). The subspecies nigrithorax is present in Southern Asia (China, northern India, Korea, Nepal; Van Der Vecht, 1959; Archer, 1991; Kim et al. , 2006).…”

First record of the western black widow spider Latrodectus hesperus Chamberlin & Ivie, 1935 (Araneae: Theridiidae) in South Korea

“…Invasive invertebrate species cause enormous global costs, including at least US$70 billion per year in goods and services and US$6.9 billion per year in healthcare, by spreading diseases, consuming crops, and damaging the infrastructure (Bradshaw et al 2016). Recently, the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax Buysson) has caused economic damage to apiaries and caused a public health issue (Choi et al 2012(Choi et al , 2019Choi & Kwon 2015;Jung et al 2008;Kim et al 2006). Recently, the yellow-legged hornet (Vespa velutina nigrithorax Buysson) has caused economic damage to apiaries and caused a public health issue (Choi et al 2012(Choi et al , 2019Choi & Kwon 2015;Jung et al 2008;Kim et al 2006).…”