Order Hymenoptera - Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies

To see the taxonomic structure used on BugGuide.net for the Hymenoptera click here

Hymenoptera is rom Greek, hymen, membrane, plus pteron (a), wing.

Modern English wasp is from Middle English waspe, Old English waesp, with a variant waefs, and the original root seems to have been waeps. (The form in some Modern English dialectical speech, including some American dialects, is wops!) The Indo-European root was *wops-. The original meaning appears to be related to weave, so a wasp is a weaver. The Indo-European root also gave rise to Latin uespa (later vespa), so that English wasp and scientific Latin Vespa are cognates (Partridge, 1958).

Modern English bee is, of course, echoic of the buzzing of bees, and this goes all the way back (circa 5,000 years!) to a very similar Indo-European root bhī meaning bee (Partridge, 1958). (Bees have been buzzing for a very long time!)

Insects of Cedar Creek states there are over 70 families and about 18,000 species in North America.

Arnett (1) gives a figure of 17,777 species, 2034 genera for North America.

There are 125,000 known species worldwide and estimates of 600,000 and 1,200,000 total.

Most are of moderate size, but they range in size from minuscule (less than a millimeter) to 50+ mm. Arnett (1) gives a range of 0.2-115 mm, but typically 2-30 mm

One of the most diverse groups of insects in form and life-history. Characteristics of Hymenoptera (1), (2):

OVERVIEW OF FAMILIES

No Taxon Sawflies, Horntails, and Wood Wasps

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No Taxon Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps

No Taxon Anthophila (Apoidea) – Bees

No Taxon Apoid Wasps (Apoidea) - traditional Sphecidae

Superfamily Chrysidoidea - Cuckoo Wasps and Allies

Superfamily Vespoidea

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+ Family Pompilidae – Spider Wasps

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No Taxon parasitic Apocrita

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Superfamily Chalcidoidea - Chalcid Wasps

winged female wingless female

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Superfamily Cynipoidea

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Superfamily Evanioidea - Aulacids, Ensigns, and Gasteruptiids

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Superfamily Ichneumonoidea - Braconids and Ichneumons

Varied. Many adults are found on flowers.

Many groups are predatory, feeding their young with meat, usually of other insects. Some groups provision their young with pollen, and many adults take nectar.

Complete metamorphosis (holometabolus). Life cycle has egg, larva, pupa, and adult. Some larvae (such as sawflies) are caterpillar-like, most are grub-like, lacking legs.

Males usually develop from unfertilized eggs in this order, a feature of their biology which likely contributed to the evolution of sociality independently in several groups.

In many groups, young are provisioned by the adults, however in many groups the larvae are parasitoids (predatory parasites) of other insects. Larvae of sawflies feed on plants, and these are believed to be a basal group, linking hymenoptera with related orders, such as Lepidoptera. Predatory, provisioning, and parasitoid life-styles are believed to have evolved in groups descended from plant-feeding (as larvae) hymenoptera.

A Word About Classification:

A recurring event in Hymenopteran evolution is one branch that becomes so successful it seems like the main tree, or at least equal to its parent and "aunt and uncle" branches.

We think of sawflies, horntails, and wood wasps as a small branch of the Hymenoptera (the Symphyta), but the Aculeata are really just an offshoot from one of their many branches. We likewise think of the non-stinging, parasitic Aculeata like the Ichneumenoids as another branch, but the stinging hymenoptera known as Apocrita are just an offshoot of one of their branches. In the same way, one group of the Apocrita, the Apoid Wasps, gave rise to the bees, while another, the Vespoid Wasps, gave rise to the ants.

In each case, the new offshoot is different enough that it's easier to treat the groups it came from as if they're a separate branch- they have more in common with each other than with their offshoot. That's why BugGuide has groups like the Symphyta and the parasitic Apocrita separate from the Aculeata, and bees and ants separate from the families they came from. These are for convenience, and our arrangement shouldn't be taken as scientific fact.

A Word About Stings:

Ordinarily, Hymenoptera stings will only cause local pain and swelling.

However, some individuals may be allergic to Hymenoptera stings. An allergic reaction to Hymenoptera stings occurs once the victim becomes sensitized to the venom from a previous sting. The allergic reaction is caused by the immune system, which has now been oversensitized to the venom and releases histamines into the bloodstream. Histamines dilate blood capillaries, causing the skin to appear red and feel warm, and also make the capillaries more permeable, which allows fluid to escape into the tissues. This causes swelling, which is manifested as rapidly appearing hives, accompanied by severe itching. In a severe allergic reaction called anaphylactic shock, the tissues of the throat swell and the victim may have difficulty breathing and, unless promptly treated, death may result

Many flies (diptera), moths, mantidflies, true bugs, spiders, and others mimic hymenoptera, and some are extremely convincing.