Recent sperm morphology studies have shown that although Vespidae belong to the superfamily Vespoidea, A. vicina may be more phylogenetically related to Apoidea.

The genus Agelaia, includes nine species: A. flavipennis, A. areata, A. angulicollis, A. cajennensis, A. fulvofasciata, A. myrmecophila, A. pallipes, A. yepocapa and A.

When there are spatial limitations the top most layer stops concentrically expanding, leaving the final shape of the nest to be ellipsoid.

The brood is always concentrated near the center of the nest, while peripheral cells are left empty as a means of enveloping the structure.

A. vicina is found in Southern Brazil and their nests have been studied in the states of São Paulo and Minas Gerais.

[6] A. vicina are a swarm-founding species, therefore initiation of a new colony involves a large group of workers and one or more queens.

In the dry season there is a large population increase soon followed by reproductive swarming, leading to a steep decline in colony size.

[5] All species of the genus Agelaia, including A. vicina lack the characteristic of actively recruiting nestmates to discover sources of food.

By behaving as opportunistic, solitary foragers they regularly find untouched food patches and exploit them as rapidly as possible until they are driven out by predators.

The species also consumes insects of the order Dermaptera, Hymenoptera, Heteroptera, Mantodea, Diptera, Neuroptera, Blattodae and Homoptera.

The diversity of their prey and the immense quantity that is necessary to sustain this high rate of growth affects local populations of these species.