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Polybioides Buysson

(Life: Kingdom: Metazoa (animals); Phylum: Arthropoda; Class: Hexapoda; Order: Hymenoptera; Superfamily: Vespoidea; Family: Vespidae; Subfamily: Polistinae)

Polybioides Buysson, 1913. Type species: Vespa tabida Fabricius, 1781

Polybioides melainus (Meade Waldo, 1911)
  Polybioides tabidus (Fabricius, 1913)

Distribution

Afrotropical and Oriental regions.

Biology

The nest consists of a small number of double-sided combs, arranged vertically, attached at the top end to a branch, and enclosed in a thin, brittle paper covering. The nests can reach a size of 90cm in length and then contain many individuals, which readily react to any disturbance inflicting a painful sting in defense of their nest. Adults forage on meat, ripe bananas and visit flowers (Bequaert, 1918).

Reference

Bequaert, J.C. 1918. A revision of the Vespidae of the Belgian Congo based on the collection of the American Museum Congo Expedition: with a list of Ethiopian diplopterous wasps. Bulletin of the American Museum of Natural History 39: 1-384.

Credits

Photographs © Simon van Noort (Iziko Museums of South Africa).


Web author Simon van Noort (Iziko South African Museum)

 

Citation: van Noort, S. 2024. WaspWeb: Hymenoptera of the World. URL: www.waspweb.org (accessed on <day/month/year>).

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