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.

[4] Species in this family display a full range of social organization, from completely solitary to highly eusocial life cycles.

[5] These wasps have a thorax (upper midsection area) and a longer striped gaster with a sting on the end.

Also, queens, males and other members of the reproductive caste have larger fat reserves than the workers, allowing them to survive the winters.

Before the larvae mature, the wasps chew the cells at the base to help the offspring emerge.

There is also a pre-matrifilial phase, which is the first part of the post-emergence period when subordinate foundresses are still present in nests and interact with workers.

Typically, gynes begin emerging from nests in early February, so any female collected in colonies up to the end of January of each season will most likely be workers.

The queen helps build and initiate the nest at first, during the pre and post emergence periods, but then becomes lethargic.

At the end of the season, the female queen leaves the nest for the winter and returns the following year to create a new colony.

[3] Several factors appear to contribute to brood decline and the end of the colony cycle in B. petiolata.

These include: cessation of the supply of solid food to colonies and larvae during the reproductive phase, a decrease in the worker/larva ratio during the latter phase due to the slow loss of workers, increasing the number of gynes and males, and an adult priority over food reception from foragers.

[3] The workers carry out nearly all the basic work, like creating and fixing damage to the nest, getting food, and feeding the larvae.

[3] Sometimes the queens initially exhibit dominance behaviors, but then move to the top of the nest and become more inactive towards the end of the colony cycle.

Queens lay 83.3% of the eggs in pre-emergence colonies, which is a significantly higher rate of oviposition than that of subordinates.

Workers have broad heads, while the reproductive caste wasps have broader thoraces and gasters.

Active queens are the primary egg layers in colonies and possess well-developed ovaries.

A wasp's ability to survive winter, and its number of fat reserves, has been used to distinguish gynes from workers.

[6] The dominance of the queen over the colony keeps the subordinant nature of worker wasps intact.

When a queen dies, however, an older alpha worker, that was likely present when the colony was younger, often takes up the dominant position.

During the pre-matrifilial stage, in colonies of B. petiolata, removal of the queen led to her replacement by the second most dominant foundress, who is known as a beta-foundress, instead of a worker.

[2] Mating occurs when a male wasp approaches a female, and the two undergo mutual or unilateral antennation, where the pair touches each other's antennae or the male probes the female's thorax and abdomen with his antennae.

[5] The percent of gynes with mature oocytes in their ovaries increased from 2.9% in April to 15.6% at the end of July, and then lastly to 45.7% in August.

Lack of insemination has frequently been used as a criterion for distinguishing queens from workers in social wasps.

Inseminated daughters were only recorded from late February onwards, coinciding with the period of male production.

[6] Gynes and other female wasps have mate recognition signals, or pheromones, within their venom, thorax and heads.

In late summer, there is often a reduction in the amount of available prey, so many wasps switch to just foraging for nectar, using this as its primary food source.

Variations in reproductive capacity and body size of the female young are due to changes in the amount of food given to them when they were larvae.

This is the time period when gynes were being reared, indicating that there are more workers available to give food to the young that will become a part of the highest caste and need the most nutrition.