Hey, hold on, we are good guys! Colony defensive behavior and notes on nesting of Parachartergus fulgidipennis (de Saussure, 1854) (Vespidae: Polistinae: Epiponini)

Parachartergus wasps are known for having very aggressive behavior, especially the large black species with white wings tip, which have painful stings. They exhibit a unique and interesting characteristic, the capacity to venom spraying during the colony defense or self-defense. However, for the Amazonian species Parachartergus fulgidipennis (de Saussure, 1854), little is known about its behavior and nesting. In this way, we tracked and described the nesting site, the number of combs, cells, immatures, and adults and performed an ad libitum method to record behavioral activities. The nest was vertically attached to a concrete column, 1.2 m above the ground, measuring 25.0 x 6.0 cm. It contained four combs with approximately 74 cells, 31 eggs, seven larvae, 30 pupae, and 42 adults. With a flat thin grayish envelope with weak corrugations, the nest is very similar to the substrate's color, which turns cryptic. The colony defense behavior exhibited by this species is unaggressive and very docile, suggesting that it is not similar to those observed for other Parachartergus species.