Polistes atrimandibularis subsp. albidus Bluthgen 1957

Polistes atrimandibularis albidus Blüthgen (1957). syn. n. Material examined IRAQ: Kurdistan, Duhok, 5 km E of Ashewa, Mt. Gara, 1750–1950 m, 37.0158°N 43.3305°E, 30 May-12 June 2024, 2 ♂ (MSVI, PQ676388). Remarks Blüthgen (in Bytinski-Salz 1957) described the subspecies Polistes atrimandibularis albidus from Turkey, characterising it as a form with whitish markings instead of the bright yellow markings usually observed in the European populations of P. atrimandibularis, and more recently this taxon has been considered as a probable synonym of P. atrimandibularis by Schmid-Egger et al. (2017). Comparison of two white-marked specimens from Iraq with yellow-marked specimens from Europe did not reveal any morphological difference except for the colour, and DNA barcoding of Italian and Iraqi specimens (Table 1) revealed a genetic distance of just 0.76%, a value in line with the intraspecific variability observed in other parasitic Polistes species (0.00–0.95% in P. austroccidentalis van Achterberg and Neumeyer, and 0.00–0.82% in P. semenowi Morawitz) and well-below the interspecific distances observed between P. atrimandibularis and the other social parasites (1.69–3.00% from P. semenowi Morawitz, 2.17–3.43% from P. austroccidentalis van Achterberg and Neumeyer, and 4.11% from P. maroccanus Schmid-Egger). Polistes atrimandibularis albidus is therefore confirmed as a synonym of nominotypical P. atrimandibularis. Distribution Spain, France, Italy (including Sicily), Switzerland, Germany, Austria, Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Greece, Turkey, Armenia, Iraq *, Iran (Schmid-Egger et al. 2017).