A phylogenetic study of the species of the genus Vespa (Hymenoptera: Vespinae)

A phylogenetic analysis with the program Hennig86 is performed on the 23 species of the genus Vespa, using the Polistinae and the remaining species of the Vespinae as outgroups. Two species, V. basalis and V. binghami, are unplaced while the remaining 21 species are resolved as a separate group. Within this group the following species groups are resolved as being of uncertain relationships: V. affinis group with 13 species, V. tropica group with five species, V. crabro group with two species and V. orientalis.