It is famous for its swarm based emigration behavior, and is native to the lowlands of Central and northern South America.

[2] This species has developed special night vision adaptations to facilitate their night-time swarming and foraging behavior[3] and has important medicinal properties for the Pankararú people of Brazil.

[4] Apoica pallens is part of the tribe Epiponini, a group including paper wasps found in neotropical regions.

[9] Apoica pallens is best known for its unique swarm founding behavior, in which the adult population of a colony abandons an old nest and emigrates to a new site.

[9] Additionally, nest abandonment is sometimes correlated with changing climates, and in the case of Apoica pallens, has been observed more frequently during the dry season.

When the moon is waxing, Apoica pallens extends the hours that it forages until individuals are out all night long.

[8] Over time, Apoica pallens have developed adaptations that have enhanced their vision allowing them to forage in these low light intensity conditions.

These wasps have larger visual fields compared to those of relatives due to a greater diameter of the rhabdom,[3] a rodlike structure in the eye that is sensitive to light.

Although these features help increase the wasp's nocturnal vision, other factors not widely studied also contribute, such as the lateral branching of neurons in the first optic ganglion within the eye.

[17] Apoica pallens appears to coordinate swarming using an airborne pheromone released from the lower side of the abdomen.

This would seem to lead to relatively low relatedness between individuals within a colony, and therefore the incentive to protect shared genes would also be reduced.

Medicinal insects are the focus of certain healing methods targeted to treat ailments, serving as drug resources that come from nature.

The nests of Apoica pallens, in particular, is known to be significant in the practices of the indigenous Pankarare and also the rural people of Brazil.

In Matinha dos Pretos, pieces of the nest can also be boiled in water to make a tea that serves as treatment for asthma.

During the day, when adult individuals are not participating in swarming behavior, they cover the comb face of the nest several layers thick.

It has also been hypothesized that the advantages of this protective formation during the daylight hours are what led to the selection of the nocturnal foraging and swarming behavior seen in this species.