Polistes (Polistes) gallicus

Polistes (Polistes) gallicus (Linnaeus, 1767) Literature records Abdul-Rassoul (1976); Al-Ali (1977); Augul (2017). Remarks We have examined no specimens of this species from Iraq. Augul (2017) cites Derwesh (1965) as a previous source for the occurrence of this species in Iraq and provides further records, but as visible from the pictures provided these records are in fact attributable to at least two different species, none of which is Polistes gallicus. Moreover, the record published by Derwesh (1965) refers to ‘ P. gallicus L. var. bucharensis ’, currently regarded as a distinct species. As shown by Schmid-Egger et al. (2017), Polistes gallicus is a western and central Mediterranean species with its eastern limit in Corfu; therefore, its presence in Iraq is implausible.