Classification: | Kingdom: Animalia | Phylum: Arthropoda | Class: Insecta | Order: Hymenoptera | Family: Vespidae | Genus: Ropalidia |

The wasp and its nests:

This was a nest found on a leaf of Cinnamomum iners (Wild Cinnamon) in December 2019. I followed its development for about 7 weeks. The nest did get slightly larger over time but at a relatively slow pace. More of the wasps could be seen on the nest at the end of 7 weeks compared to the time when I first spotted the nest.

This wasp looks very similar to Ropalidia fasciata except on the missing yellow spots on the upper end of the abdomen or gaster found on Ropalidia fasciata. Also, its nest is seen constructed horizontally on the surface of leaves instead of the long hanging stick-liked nest constructed by Ropalidia fasciata.

In an article published in 2014 [1], the picture of Ropalidia artifex illustrated in there looked quite similar to the wasp in my photo. In addition, the distribution of this wasp included Malay Peninsula.

Reference:

[1] Tan JL, Achterberg KV, Chen XX. Pictorial key to species of the genus Ropalidia Guerin-Meneville, 1831 (Hymenoptera, Vespidae) from China, with description of one new species. Zookeys 2014;(391):1-35. | Read article |