Belonogaster

{{Short description|Genus of wasps}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2022}}

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| taxon = Belonogaster

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| authority = Saussure, 1854{{cite web |url=http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Belonogaster_Genus.asp |title=Belonogaster (Genus) |accessdate=2012-03-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090425214327/http://zipcodezoo.com/Key/Animalia/Belonogaster_Genus.asp |archivedate=2009-04-25 }}

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Belonogaster (belone - "needle", gaster - "belly") is a large genus of mainly Afrotropical quasisocial wasps, although some species occur in Arabia and two extend as far as India.O. W. Richards, 1982 A revision of the genus Belonogaster de Saussure (Hymenoptera: Vespidae), Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History) Entomology 44(2): 31-114 https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/page/2359262 They have characteristics of both the eusocial and the solitary wasps.{{cite web|url=http://www.earthlife.net/insects/socwasps.html |title=Gordon's Social Wasps Page |accessdate=2012-03-20 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20120308170223/http://www.earthlife.net/insects/socwasps.html |archivedate=2012-03-08 }} Belonogaster constructs communal paper nests where the larvae are fed on masticated, soft-bodied insects such as caterpillars.[https://www.waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Vespidae/Polistinae/Belonogaster/index.htm Belonogaster] waspweb.org {{dead link|date=January 2024}} The type species is Belonogaster juncea, which consists of two subspecies: Belonogaster juncea colonialis and Belonogaster juncea juncea.{{cite web|url=http://www.waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Vespidae/Polistinae/Belonogaster/Belonogaster_juncea.htm |title=Belonogaster_juncea |accessdate=2014-09-21 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20141111233546/http://www.waspweb.org/Vespoidea/Vespidae/Polistinae/Belonogaster/Belonogaster_juncea.htm |archivedate=2014-11-11 }} Belanogaster wasps are an important food source for wintering European honey buzzards (Pernis apivorus) in sub-Saharan Africa.[http://sabap2.adu.org.za/docs/sabap1/130.pdf Saharan Africa] sabap2.adu.org {{dead link|date=January 2024}} In African traditional medicine, wasps of the genus are cooked with plant roots and consumed to cure various childhood sicknesses, as well as having ceremonial use similar to that of honey bees (Apis mellifera).O. A. Lawal and A. D. Banjo, 2007. Survey for the Usage of Arthropods in Traditional Medicine in Southwestern Nigeria. Journal of Entomology, 4: 104–112. Some birds choose to build their nests near the nests of Belonogaster for protection, including mousebirds and weavers.{{Cite web|url=http://www.lynxeds.com/family-text/hbw-6-family-text-coliidae-mousebirds|title=Handbook of the Birds of the World – Volume 6 – Lynx Edicions}}