Vespa atra Olivier, 1791:674 - Richards, 1978Richards, O.W. 1978. The social wasps of the Americas excluding the Vespinae. British Museum (Natural History), London. 1-567.:299 ( listed as synonym of Mischocyttarus socialis (Saussure, 1854)); Maes, 1999 1999. Catalogo de los insectos y artropodos terrestres de Nicaragua. Volumen III. León, Nicaragua. 1170-1898.:1756 ( listed as synonym of Mischocyttarus socialis (Saussure, 1854)). - As Polybia atra: - Dalla Torre, 1894Dalla Torre, C.G. 1894. Catalogus Hymenopterorum hucusque descriptorum systematicus et synonymicus, IX. Vespidae (Diploptera). Guilelmi Engelmann, 181. (distribution); Cameron, 1907Cameron, P. 1907. On some Diplopteryga of Belize and Nicaragua. Invertebrata Pacifica 1:183-190. (distribution); Carpenter & Vecht, 1991Carpenter, J.M. & J. van der Vecht 1991. A study of the Vespidae described by William J. Fox (Insecta: Hymenoptera), with assessment of taxonomic implications. Annals of the Carnegie Museum 60 (3):211-241. (distribution), 217 ( listed as synonym of Polybia ignobilis (Haliday, 1836)).
Polybia socialis Saussure, 1854:text 177:177, Richards, 1978Richards, O.W. 1978. The social wasps of the Americas excluding the Vespinae. British Museum (Natural History), London. 1-567.:299, Type ♀, text, not figure (MNHN, Paris). - As Mischocyttarus socialis: - Bequaert, 1943Bequaert, J.C. 1943. On the so-called Mischocyttraus ater, Polybia atra, and their relatives (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 36 (4):717-729. (distribution); Richards, 1978Richards, O.W. 1978. The social wasps of the Americas excluding the Vespinae. British Museum (Natural History), London. 1-567. (distribution); Maes, 1999 1999. Catalogo de los insectos y artropodos terrestres de Nicaragua. Volumen III. León, Nicaragua. 1170-1898. (distribution); Starr & Hook, 2003Starr, C.K. & Hook, A.W. 2003. The aculeate Hymenoptera of Trinidad, West Indies. Occasional Papers o the Department of Life Sciences, University of the West Indies 12:1-31. (distribution).
Polybia ignobilis Saussure, 1854:pl. XXIV, fig. 5 - Bequaert, 1943Bequaert, J.C. 1943. On the so-called Mischocyttraus ater, Polybia atra, and their relatives (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 36 (4):717-729.:721 ( listed as synonym of Mischocyttarus socialis (Saussure, 1854)).
Megacanthopus imitator Ducke, 1904:359 - Bequaert, 1943Bequaert, J.C. 1943. On the so-called Mischocyttraus ater, Polybia atra, and their relatives (Hymenoptera, Vespidae). Annals of the Entomological Society of America 36 (4):717-729.:721 ( listed as synonym of Mischocyttarus socialis (Saussure, 1854)).