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Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps

Bumblebee, Apidae - Bombus impatiens - female Megachile ID Request - Megachile pugnata Agapostemon - male Beewolf - Philanthus multimaculatus Ammophila kennedyi? - Ammophila Chrysidid Wasp? - Parnopes edwardsii - female Ant - Lasius - female Spider Wasp Paper Wasp - Polistes bellicosus - female
Classification
Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
No Taxon Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes
Classification follows Pilgrim et al. (2008)(1) and Debevec et al. (2012)(2)
Explanation of Names
The name refers to the stinger (a modified ovipositor, thus, present in females only)
Identification
OVERVIEW OF FAMILIES


Family Andrenidae - Mining Bees
                       
           


Family Apidae - Cuckoo, Carpenter, Digger, Bumble, and Honey Bees
                                                               

Family Colletidae - Plasterer Bees, Masked or Yellow-faced Bees
                 

Family Halictidae - Sweat Bees
                                         


Family Megachilidae - Leaf-cutter bees, Mason Bees, and allies



Family Melittidae - Melittid Bees


No Taxon Apoid Wasps (Apoidea) - traditional Sphecidae

Ampulicidae - Cockroach wasps




Sphecidae - Thread waisted wasps


Superfamily Chrysidoidea - Cuckoo Wasps and Allies



Family Chrysididae - Cuckoo Wasps


Dryinidae - Dryinids






Family Mutillidae – Velvet Ants
     

           

Family Pompilidae – Spider Wasps


Family Sapygidae - Sapygid Wasps



Family Scoliidae - Scoliid Wasps



Family Chyphotidae - Chyphotid Wasps


Family Thynnidae - Thynnid Wasps



Family Sierolomorphidae - Sierolomorphid Wasps


Family Tiphiidae - Tiphiid Wasps



Family Rhopalosomatidae - Rhopalosomatid Wasps
♀ ♂

Family Vespidae - Yellowjackets, Paper Wasps, and Hornets; Potter, Mason and Pollen Wasps
Remarks
Monophyletic group that includes the "stinging wasps", ants and bees; many form colonies (small to very large), some with pronounced division of labor (eusociality)
In most (but not all!) aculeates, males have 13 antennal segments and females have 12. (3)
Works Cited
1.Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily...
Pilgrim E.M., von Dohlen C.D., Pitts J.P. 2008. Zoologica Scripta 37: 539–560.
2.Identifying the sister group to the bees: a molecular phylogeny of Aculeata with an emphasis on the superfamily Apoidea
Debevec A.H., Cardinal S., Danforth B.N. 2012. Zoologica Scripta 41: 527-535.
3.Borror and DeLong's Introduction to the Study of Insects
Norman F. Johnson, Charles A. Triplehorn. 2004. Brooks Cole.