''Ropalidia amabala'' is an African

species A species () is often defined as the largest group of organisms in which any two individuals of the appropriate sexes or mating types can produce fertile offspring, typically by sexual reproduction. It is the basic unit of Taxonomy (biology), ...

paper wasp Paper wasps are a type of Eusociality, social vespid wasps. The term is typically used to refer to members of the Vespidae, vespid subfamily Polistinae, though it often colloquially includes members of the subfamilies Vespinae (hornets and yel ...

, described in 2022 based on the targeted search for a taxon that was firstly observed in the citizen science platform

iNaturalist iNaturalist is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit social network of naturalists, citizen scientists, and biologists built on the concept of mapping and sharing observations of biodiversity across the globe. iNaturalist may be accessed via its web ...

. The name originates from the Zulu word amabala, meaning "spots", and refers to the six spots integrated with the posterior band on T2 and S2, characteristic for this species. In contrast to other mainland African ''

Ropalidia ''Ropalidia'' is a large genus of eusocial paper wasps (Polistinae) in the tribe Ropalidiini distributed throughout the Afrotropical, Indomalayan and Australasian biogeographical regions. The genus ''Ropalidia ''is unusual because it contains ...

'' species, this species builds nests directly on the tree trunks, especially in ''

Brachychiton ''Brachychiton'' (kurrajong, bottletree) is a genus of 31 species of trees and large shrubs, native to Australia (the centre of diversity, with 30 species) and New Guinea (one species). Fossils from New South Wales and New Zealand are estimated ...

''. The nest-building material is a nearby lichen, which gives a nest greyish colour and blends it perfectly into the surrounding area. 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

Distribution

This species is distributed in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. The holotype specimen was collected in Grahamstown.

Nests

The majority of the social wasp nest architecture is considered to have evolved as a countermeasure to the ant predation. However, visual concealment of the nest is considered to reflect selective pressure by visually-driven predators, which are most commonly vertebrates. There are several species from Madagascar that build visually concealed nests directly on three trunks (like ''R. saussurei'' Kojima, or ''R. minor'' de Saussure), but the phylogenetic comparison suggests that the nesting habits in ''R. amabala'' evolved independently. In addition, the blackish basal colour and whitish body markings provide another element of visual concealment, in contrast to more bright ''Ropalidia'' species that can be encountered along the Eastern African coast.

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q115216961 Vespidae Hymenoptera of Africa Insects described in 2022