Polybia sumatrensis Polybioides raphigastra is a species of social wasp found in the forests of South East Asia and Indonesia.

Four of these species live in South East Asia, Indonesia, and the Philippines, and the other two are located in equatorial Africa.

[1] Polybioides were recently included in the tribe Ropalidiini, which, along with Polistini, Epiponini, and Mischocyttarini, make up the subfamily Polistinae.

Nests are egg-shaped and formed of a single, helicoidal comb that winds upon itself eight or nine times in a fashion so that each whorl is partially enclosed by the following one.

The architecture of P. raphigastra nests appear to be unique among the Vespidae, though spiral combs may be found in other species of swarm-founding Ropalidiini and Epiponini.

Additionally, its tendency to enwrap and protect previously built structures as it grows is similar to Agelaia areata.

[5] These defensive responses may vary greatly, ranging from mass attacks to full-scale retreats back into the nest.

Field experiments in which crushed venom glands and stings of P. raphigastra workers were placed in close proximity to the opening of a P. raphigastra nest showed that the number of wasps leaving the nest entrance was significantly higher when these glands were presented relative to the control (crushed thoraces).

It is well known that members of the species respond aggressively to vertebrate animals, with workers often attacking unprovoked at great distances away from the nest, and continuing to pursue their victims for several minutes.

[5][6] Further, these individual workers may effectively tag an enemy and elicit a colony-wide threat response via pheremones located in their venom glands.

It is this aggressive response, shared by all members of the genus Polybioides, that was utilized by the Viet Cong during the Vietnam War.

Guerrilla fighters would employ swarms of bees in booby traps intentioned to quick-release these territorial wasps directly nearby enemy troops.

Autotomy is a common phenomenon in bees and has also been found to occur in several wasp species of the tribes Epiponini and Polistini.

The external surface of the lancets possess large, well developed barbs through the length of the sting that are arranged in a helicoidal distribution.