Agelaia pallipes
| Agelaia pallipes pallipes | |
|---|---|
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Clade: | Euarthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| Order: | Hymenoptera |
| Family: | Vespidae |
| Subfamily: | Polistinae |
| Tribe: | Epiponini |
| Genus: | Agelaia |
| Species: | A. pallipes |
| Binomial name | |
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Agelaia pallipes (Olivier, 1792) |
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| Synonyms= | |
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Agelaia pallipes is a species of social paper wasp found from Costa Rica to Argentina and Paraguay. A. pallipes is ground-nesting and is one of the most aggressive wasps in South America. This species is a predator of other insects, including flies, moths, and ground crickets.
A. pallipes is part of the family Vespidae, subfamily Polistinae and tribe Epiponini, and subsequently the genus Agelaia. The Vespidae family is characterized by the eusociality of its members. Eusociality refers to the complex organization of animal behavior and is defined by these four attributes: adults live in groups, cooperative care of juveniles, reproductive division of labor where only specific members have the capacity to reproduce, and an overlap of generations. In Polistinae, prey and other food resources are masticated and fed to larvae, who in turn give back a clear but nutritious liquid which the adults then consume. The Epopini is a tribe of Polistinae characterized by being polygynic, with many queens and reproduces by swarms.
Relatives of A. pallipes in the Agelaia genus include: A. vicina, A. flavipennis, A. areata, A. angulicollis, A. cajennensis, A. fulvofasciata, A. myrmecophila, A. yepocapa, A. panamaensis
Depending on their location and altitude, A. pallipes can vary from 9.05mm-9.21mm in length and are yellow with black maculation. Their head displays a range of colors of black, yellow and brown. Their bodily terga vary from yellow to brown and black. Their legs and wings are also yellow. There is clear dimorphism between queens (egg-layers) and sterile female workers with the former displaying physical superiority and size in 17 of 22 characteristics relating to the head, mesosoma, metasoma and wings. There is also clear dimorphism between ovary development of the two different castes of females. Longer and developed ovaries are seen in queens whereas short, thread-like ovaries are seen in workers. There is a stark absence of no transitional females (workers with developed ovaries) thus showing unambiguous division between castes. Furthermore, what separates workers from queens is the presence of a brown or black stripe on the humeri.
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Wikipedia