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.

[3] 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.

[4] 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, and A. panamaensis.

[5] 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.

[8] Being a species of tropical distribution, A. pallipes is found in the central and northern regions of South America and is commonly restricted to the high-altitude mountain forests and open fields at over 3,000 m (9,800 ft) in altitude.

[15] Due to their region of preference, the neotropics, the onset of nest foundation varies over a number of months and even seasons exclusive of only the deepest of winter periods.

[27] The cloud forest environment, where some of these A. pallipes are found, contribute negatively to foraging activity and force individuals to complete life cycles with a smaller body size.

[29] The mechanism for workers choosing their queens is still unclear – however, the pervading theory is related to body size and that the largest females are chosen due to higher survivability.

Though the collection of bodily fluids is preferred, the wasp will also settle to take carrion morsels to their larvae; furthermore, it has been documented in recent studies that they will chew tissues of cavities in order to find liquids.

[33] A. pallipes was observed to feed on carrion primarily during the fresh stage (98% of occurrences) which can lead to significant forensic importance when determining the post-mortem interval.

This type of behavior is seen in other carrion eaters like crows and ravens where the pooling of independent search efforts is the most efficient way to locate food sources and subsequently defend them from other organisms.

The A. pallipes workers, when approaching an occupied food source, will fly low and flap their wings in order to free areas.

[36] Therefore, like social facilitation for feeding and foraging, the A. pallipes will attempt to recruit its nest mates in order to gain advantages over competitors.

A. pallipes will compete with other species of wasp and will, due to its aggressiveness, generally be successful as seen in their superior abundance on carcasses in the primary stages of decay.

By virtue of such large numbers, swarm-founding members must necessarily have a method of communication that will allow the entire nest to coordinate movements efficiently.

As noticed in A. pallipes foraging habits, the eusocial wasps also receive visual stimulus that communicates to the individual to join the larger group.

[41] In cohesion, the two peptide toxins were tested for and displayed potent ability to negatively effect hemolytic activity, mass cell granulation, and chemotaxis in large vertebrates.

Certainly, the characterization and identification of these novel A. pallipes toxins will allow scientists to elucidate the mechanism of envenoming which will lead to future pharmacological breakthroughs.