Abstract / Introduction / Summary:
Vespula flaviceps (Smith, 1870) was recorded from Okinawa-jima, Central Ryukyu Islands, Japan for the first time by Naka and Yamane based on a single queen specimen collected in May 2021. It was clearly distin- guishable from the native Japanese population of V. flaviceps (ssp. lewisii Cameron, 1903) but was very similar to the nominate subspecies V. f. flaviceps. In this study we examined a single male collected in March 2021 in Motobu-chô on the same island, locat- ed ca. 12 km from the collection site of the queen mentioned above. The data suggest that this subspecies may have already established on the island and that the male may have originated from an overwintered colo- ny. Keys to all the Japanese species and subspecies are presented based on the worker, queen and male.
