"Basal" but not primitive: the nest of Apoica arborea de Saussure, 1854 (Insecta, Hymenoptera, Vespidae, Polistinae)

The first nest of Apoica arborea ever collected is reported. Characteristics of the unusual nest design are discussed relative to other members of the genus Apoica and other epiponine genera. The characteristics of its nest architecture are a mosaic of primitive and derived features for the Polistinae, and thus the nest design is not properly interpreted as the primitive condition from which other swarm-founding wasp nest designs are derived. The frequent conflation of “basal” and primitive is discussed.