Morphological Characterization and Nesting, Foraging Behavior of Parapolybia escalerae (Meade-Waldo, 1911) (Hymenoptera: Vespidae) in Iraqi Kurdistan

This study reports the first detailed morphological and behavioral observations of the paper wasp Parapolybia escalerae (Meade-Waldo, 1911) from the Kurdistan Region of northern Iraq. A total of 90 adult were collected from two districts (Mawat and Jwarta) in Sulaymaniyah Governorate. Detailed morphometric analysis was conducted on 30 randomly selected specimens.‎ Morphological measurements of the head, mesosoma, metasoma, wings, and legs were recorded and compared with existing identification keys, particularly those of Carpenter & Kojima (1997). Diagnostic characters such as the shape of the clypeus, configuration of the antennae, structure of the marginal cell in the forewings, and the elongated T2 segment were consistent with species-level identification. Behavioral observations, quantified over 120 hours across three colonies, ‎a revealed high level of social organization, including stalk-based nest construction, use of processed plant fibers, and progressive larval feeding. The presence of P. escalerae in this region expands the known distribution range of the genus in the Middle East and emphasizes the need for further ecological and taxonomic investigations of Vespidae in Iraq.