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Ropalidia Guérin

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Vespoidea; Family: Vespidae; Subfamily: Polistinae)

Ropalidia Guérin, 1831. Type species: Ropalidia maculiventris Guérin, 1831.
Ropalidia acuminata Polašek, 2025

Ropalidia aethiopica (du Buysson, 1906)
  Ropalidia africana (Cameron, 1910)
Ropalidia amabala Polašek, Bellingan & van Noort, 2022
Ropalidia amanhii Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia anarchica (de Saussure, 1853)
Ropalidia antennata (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia atra (de Saussure, 1890)
Ropalidia aulaeum Polašek, 2025
Ropalidia baki Polašek & Onah, 2025
Ropalidia barbata Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia bicincta (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia brazzai (du Buysson, 1906)
Ropalidia caesariata Polašek, 2025
Ropalidia capensis (de Saussure, 1862)
  Ropalidia carinata (de Saussure, 1890)
Ropalidia clepsydra Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia constitutionalis (de Saussure, 1853)
Ropalidia copelandi Polašek, 2025
Ropalidia crassipunctata Giordani Soika, 1981
  Ropalidia democratica (de Saussure, 1853)
Ropalidia dondo Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia dubia (de Saussure, 1853)
  Ropalidia ducalis (de Saussure, 1900)
Ropalidia excavata Giordani Soika, 1977
Ropalidia fita Polašek, 2025
Ropalidia flavoscutellata Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia formosa (de Saussure, 1853)
  Ropalidia fraterna (de Saussure, 1900)
  Ropalidia galimatia (de Saussure, 1853)
  Ropalidia grandidieri (de Saussure, 1890)
Ropalidia guttatipennis (de Saussure, 1853)
Ropalidia haladaorum Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia hastata Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia interjecta (de Saussure, 1900)
  Ropalidia irrequieta Kohl, 1907
  Ropalidia kitui Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia kuficha Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia luculenta Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia mabawa Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia macloutsie Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia makore Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia mangoflava Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia mosichi Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia nigrocerasina Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia nigrofemorata (Cameron, 1910)
  Ropalidia nitidula (de Saussure, 1890)
Ropalidia nobilis (Gerstaecker, 1857)
  Ropalidia novissima Giordani Soika, 1944
 

Ropalidia nubila Polašek, 2025

  Ropalidia obscurior Giordani Soika, 1991
  Ropalidia ophuzi Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia phalansterica (de Saussure, 1853)
  Ropalidia perovici Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia prasina (de Saussure, 1900)
  Ropalidia pulchella (de Saussure, 1900)
Ropalidia puncta (Fabricius, 1804)
  Ropalidia ranavali (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia regina (de Saussure, 1900)
  Ropalidia retromaculata Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia sakalava (de Saussure, 1900)
  Ropalidia salebrosa Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia sandamara Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia saussurei Kojima, 1998
  Ropalidia schulthessi (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia scottiana (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia shestakovi von Schulthess, 1931
  Ropalidia soikae Polašek & Kehinde, 2025
  Ropalidia subclavata (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia tajiri Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia tenebrica Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia tenuipilosa Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia tomentosa (Gerstaecker, 1857)
  Ropalidia unidentata Giordani Soika, 1981
  Ropalidia valentula Polašek, 2025
  Ropalidia variabilis (de Saussure, 1890)
  Ropalidia velutina (de Saussure, 1890)
 

Ropalidia venustula (de Saussure, 1900)
 

Ropalidia vetripennis (de Saussure, 1890)
Nomen dubia  
  Ropalidia cincta (Lepeletier, 1836)
  Ropalidia maculata (Radoszkowski, 1881)
   
Ropalidia species
Ropalidia species
Ropalidia species stylopized

Distribution

Afrotropical and Indo-Australasian regions.

Biology

 Ropalidia_nest_Duncan_MacFadyen
  Social, constructing communal, vertically orientated paper nests with horizontally orientated cells. (Polistes construct horizontally orientated combs with vertically orientated cells). Larvae are fed on chewed-up, soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars. See Polistinae Paper wasp home page for more details.

References

Bequaert, J.C. 1918. A revision of the Vespidae of the Belgian Congo based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition: with a list of Ethiopian diplopterous wasps. Bulletin of the Bulletin American Museum of Natural History 39: 1-384.

Brooks RW & Wahl DB. 1987. Biology and mature larva of Hemipimpla pulchripennis (de Saussure), a parasite of Rhopalidia (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae, Vespidae). Journal of the New York Entomological Society. 95: 547–552.

Picker, M., Griffiths, C & Weaving, A. 2002. Field Guide to Insects of South Africa. Struik Publishers, Cape Town.

Polašek O, Bellingan T, van Noort S. 2022. A new species of paper wasp from the genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville from South Africa (Hymenoptera: Vespidae). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 90: 213–222. https://doi.org/10.3897/jhr.90.81581

Polašek O, Onah I, Kehinde T, Rojo V, van Noort S, Carpenter JM. 2025. Revision of the mainland African species of the Old World social wasp genus Ropalidia Guérin-Méneville 1831 (Hymenoptera; Vespidae). Zootaxa 5626 (1): 001–142. https://doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5626.1.1

Credits

 Photographs © Ozren Polašek (Croatian Centre for Global Health, University of Split), or photographs © Vida van der Walt (Pretoria) or © Mike Picker & Charles Griffiths (University of Cape Town) or © Alan Weaving (published in Struik's Field Guide to Insects of South Africa) or © Duncan MacFayden or © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa) or © Desiré Pelser (Kloof, Durban) or © Alan Manson or © Karen Eichholz, or © Terence Bellingan.

Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2026. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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