''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly

Afrotropical The Afrotropical realm is one of Earth's eight biogeographic realms. It includes Africa south of the Sahara Desert, the majority of the Arabian Peninsula, the island of Madagascar, southern Iran and extreme southwestern Pakistan, and the island ...

quasisocial Sociality is the degree to which individuals in an animal population tend to associate in social groups (gregariousness) and form cooperative societies. Sociality is a survival response to evolutionary pressures. For example, when a mother wasp ...

wasp A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. Th ...

s, although some species occur in

Arabia The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate. ...

and two extend as far as

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. They have characteristics of both the

eusocial Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping generat ...

and the solitary wasps. ''Belonogaster'' constructs communal paper nests where the grubs are fed on masticated, soft-bodied insects such as

caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...

s.https://www.waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Vespidae/Polistinae/Belonogaster/index.htm The

type species In zoological nomenclature, a type species (''species typica'') is the species name with which the name of a genus or subgenus is considered to be permanently taxonomically associated, i.e., the species that contains the biological type specimen ...

is '' Belonogaster juncea'', which consists of two subspecies: '' Belonogaster juncea colonialis'' and '' Belonogaster juncea juncea''. ''Belanogaster'' wasps are an important food source for wintering

European honey buzzard The European honey buzzard (''Pernis apivorus''), also known as the pern or common pern, is a bird of prey in the family Accipitridae. Etymology Despite its English name, this species is more closely related to kites of the genera '' Leptodon'' a ...

s (''Pernis apivorus'') in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

. In African traditional medicine, wasps of the genus are cooked with plant roots and consumed to cure various childhood sicknesses, as well as having ceremonial use similar to that of honey bees (''

Apis mellifera The western honey bee or European honey bee (''Apis mellifera'') is the most common of the 7–12 species of honey bees worldwide. The genus name ''Apis'' is Latin for "bee", and ''mellifera'' is the Latin for "honey-bearing" or "honey carrying", ...

''). Some birds choose to build their nests near the nests of ''Belonogaster'' for protection, including

mousebirds The mousebirds are birds in the order Coliiformes. They are the sister group to the clade Eucavitaves, which includes the Leptosomiformes (the cuckoo roller), Trogoniformes (trogons), Bucerotiformes (hornbills and hoopoes), Piciformes (woodpec ...

and

weavers Weaver or Weavers may refer to: Activities * A person who engages in weaving fabric Animals * Various birds of the family Ploceidae * Crevice weaver spider family * Orb-weaver spider family * Weever (or weever-fish) Arts and entertainment ...

Species

The following species are included: *'' Belonogaster abyssinica'' Buysson, 1906 *''

Belonogaster acaulis ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Richards, 1982 *''

Belonogaster adenensis ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Giordani Soika, 1957 *''

Belonogaster apicalis ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Saussure, 1900 *''

Belonogaster arabica ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Giordani Soika, 1958 *''

Belonogaster atrata ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Schulthess, 1912 *''

Belonogaster aurata ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster barbata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster bicolor'' Saussure, 1900 *'' Belonogaster bimaculata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster brachystoma'' Kohl, 1894 *'' Belonogaster brevipetiolata'' Saussure, 1891 *'' Belonogaster brevitarsus'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster brunnea'' Ritsema, 1874 *''

Belonogaster brunnescens ''Belonogaster'' (''belone'' - "needle", ''gaster'' - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India. They have characteristics of both the eusocial and th ...

'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster clypeata'' Kohl, 1894 *'' Belonogaster dubia'' Kohl, 1894 *'' Belonogaster eumenoides'' Saussure, 1891 *'' Belonogaster facialis'' Buysson, 1908 *'' Belonogaster ferruginea'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster filiventris'' (Saussure, 1853) *'' Belonogaster flava'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster freyi'' Buysson, 1909 *'' Belonogaster fuscipennis'' Buysson, 1909 *'' Belonogaster grisea'' (Fabricius, 1775) *'' Belonogaster guerini'' (Saussure, 1853) *'' Belonogaster hildebrandti'' Saussure, 1891 *'' Belonogaster hirsuta'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster jordani'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster juncea'' (Fabricius, 1781) *'' Belonogaster keiseri'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster kelnerpillautae'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster kohli'' Schulz, 1906 *'' Belonogaster lateritia'' Gerstaecker, 1855 *'' Belonogaster leonhardii'' Buysson, 1909 *'' Belonogaster leonina'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster levior'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster libera'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster longitarsus'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster macilenta'' (Fabricius, 1781) *'' Belonogaster maculata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster madecassa'' (Saussure, 1853) *'' Belonogaster maromandia'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster meneliki'' Gribodo, 1879 *'' Belonogaster multipunctata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster neavei'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster nigricans'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster nitida'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster pennata'' Richards, 1982 *''

Belonogaster petiolata ''Belonogaster petiolata'' is a species of primitively eusocial wasp that dwells in southern Africa, in temperate or subhumid climate zones. This wasp species has a strong presence in South Africa and has also been seen in northern Johannesburg. ...

'' (Degeer, 1778) *'' Belonogaster pileata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster prasina'' Saussure, 1891 *'' Belonogaster principalis'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster punctata'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster punctilla'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster pusilloides'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster rothkirchi'' Schulthess, 1914 *'' Belonogaster saeva'' Saussure, 1891 *'' Belonogaster saussurei'' Kirby, 1881 *'' Belonogaster somereni'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster tarsata'' Kohl, 1893 *'' Belonogaster turbulenta'' Kohl, 1894 *'' Belonogaster turgida'' Kohl, 1894 *'' Belonogaster ugandae'' Richards, 1982 *'' Belonogaster vasseae'' Buysson, 1906

References

{{Taxonbar, from=Q4035001 Traditional African medicine Vespidae Hymenoptera of Africa