Delta pyriforme (Fabricius 1775)

Vespa pyriformis Fabricius 1775: 371, " China " [type depository unknown].

Delta pyriforme is a tropical and subtropical Asian and Papuan species occurring widely from Pakistan in the west, throughout southern parts of the Continental Asia and the Malay Archipelago, to New Guinea. Currently eight color forms in this species are formally recognized as subspecies, of which seven are known from the Malay Archipelago; of the seven subspecies only D. p. nigrocinctum Giordani Soika and D. p. novaeguineae Giordani Soika are known to occur without co-occurrence of other subspecies, being endemic respectively to Sumba Island and New Guinea Island. Sympatric occurrent of two or more subspecies shows that further intensive studies based on more material and/or molecular analyses are necessary to know whether these "subspecies" are color variants in a species or diagnosable species. In the present paper, we tentatively list the specimens from the Lesser Sunda Islands under subspecific names D. p. circinale and D. p. nigrocinctum. Delta p. pyriforme and D. p. butonense (Schulz) have also been recorded in the continental Asia, D. p. malayanum (Giordani Soika) is also known from Sumatra, and D. p. rufonigerrimum Giordani Soika has been recorded from Ambon and Ceram in the Moluccas; D. p. philippinense (Bequaert) occurs in the Philippines and is adventive in Hawaii.

Distribution. Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bhutan, Nepal, China, Myanmar, Thailand, Malaysia (Peninsular Malaysia), Philippines, Indonesia [Sumatra, Java, Krakatau, Bawean Island, Kangean Islands, Bali, Borneo, Sulawesi (including Buton Island), Lesser Sunda (*Lombok, *Sumbawa, *Komodo, * Flores, Sumba, Timor), Tanimbar Islands, Moluccas, Papua], Papua New Guinea; adventive in USA: Hawaii.