AGELAIA VICINA, A SWARM-FOUNDING POLISTINE WITH THE LARGEST COLONY SIZE AMONG WASPS AND BEES (HYMENOPTERA, VESPIDAE)

Since von Ihering (1903, 1904), Agelaia vicina is famous for its huge nests, but no detailed account has been published. Several nests exami ned by us were mainly built in shelters but some were half to complete ly exposed. Main nest characteristics: envelope absent; combs large an d horizontal with cells directed downwards; new combs mainly started s ynchronously and concentrically around several discoidal primordia (Fi g. 2A, B, C, D, G); mature nests huge, eventually with more than 7.5 m illion cells; correspondingly colonies very populous, in Nest 3 descri bed below 482,668 adults actually collected and the whole population e stimated at over a million. The nest size (in cell number) and colony size (in adult number) of A. vicina is evidently unrivalled among all wasps and bees.