The genus Polistes Latreille, 1802 (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) of Brazil: morphological diagnoses, identification key, and geographical distribution Author Brito, Samanta 0000-0002-0945-6894 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Manaus, AM, Brazil brito.samanta25@gmail.com Author Oliveira, Marcio L. 0000-0002-3950-1086 Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Manaus, AM, Brazil mlolivei@inpa.gov.br Author Carpenter, James M. 0000-0001-6754-8028 American Museum of Natural History, Division of Invertebrate Zoology, New York, USA carpente@amnh.org Author Somavilla, Alexandre Instituto Nacional de Pesquisas da Amazônia, Coordenação de Biodiversidade, Manaus, AM, Brazil text Zootaxa 2024 2024-08-21 5496 4 509 545 http://dx.doi.org/10.11646/zootaxa.5496.4.3 journal article 302759 10.11646/zootaxa.5496.4.3 f63148cc-bf84-485d-8ef8-561e04d99cb4 1175-5326 13617543 CC25A6CB-0783-4917-BEF7-0F332F6451F5 Polistes ( Epicnemius ) subsericeus de Saussure, 1854 ( Figs 73, 74 ) Polistes subsericeus de Saussure, 1854: 100 , ♂ . Diagnosis. Female. Body pigmentation dark brown to black, with lighter mesosoma, yellow apical band on tergum I, yellow bands on propodeal area. Wings pigmentation reddish to brown. Intermediate size, about 20 mm in total length. Clypeus long than wider, covered by short bristles at its base becoming long toward the apex, and large sized deep punctures present only in the apical region, pointed apex, clypeus-eye touching for an extent equal to or greater than width of antennal socket; gena width at midlength equal to or slightly wider than eye; occipital carina strong, extending through entire gena; humeri slightly projecting; dorsal groove incomplete; mesepisternum with short and dense bristles, small and shallow punctation; propodeal concavity absent, propodeal striae strong along entire length; tergum I longer than wide, with short and dense bristles and weak, small, and shallow punctures; tergum II wider or as wide as long, short and dense bristles, weakly punctate. Male. Similar to females, except for the contact between the clypeus and the eye for a distance smaller than the diameter of the antennal socket, central region of the gena with width smaller than the eye. Material examined . 30♀ , 14♂ in total. Brazil : Bahia , 1♀ ( MNB ) , 1♂ ( NHM ); Brasília , 1♀ , 1♂ ( NHM ); Mato Grosso , 1♀ ( INPA ) , 1♀ ( MZSP ) , 19♀ , 9♂ ( NHM ); Minas Gerais , 1♀ ( MNHN ); Rio de Janeiro , 1♀ [ Lectotype ] ( MNHN ); Roraima , 1♀ ( AMNH ); Santa Catarina , 1♀ ( MNB ); São Paulo , 1♂ ( AMNH ) , 1♀ ( MNHN ) , 1♂ ( MZSP ) , 1♀ , 1♂ ( NHM ) . Distribution. Brazil : Amapá , Amazonas, Bahia , Distrito Federal, Maranhão , Mato Grosso , Minas Gerais , Pará, Rio de Janeiro , Roraima , Santa São Paulo ; Colombia ; Venezuela ; Guyana ; Suriname ; French Guiana ; Bolivia ; Paraguay .