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Home » Guide » Arthropods (Arthropoda) » Hexapods (Hexapoda) » Insects (Insecta) » Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies (Hymenoptera) » Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps

Aculeata - Ants, Bees and Stinging Wasps

Classification · Synonyms and other taxonomic changes · Explanation of Names · Identification · Remarks · Internet References · Works Cited
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

Unranked Taxon Anthophila (Apoidea) – Bees

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


Crabronidae


Sphecidae - Thread waisted wasps


Superfamily Chrysidoidea - Cuckoo Wasps and Allies

Bethylidae


Family Chrysididae - Cuckoo Wasps


Dryinidae - Dryinids


Superfamily Formicoidea

Family Formicidae - Ants


Superfamily Pompiloidea

Family Mutillidae – Velvet Ants
♀      ♂

Family Myrmosidae
♂      ♀      ♂

Family Pompilidae – Spider Wasps


Family Sapygidae - Sapygid Wasps


Superfamily Scolioidea

Family Scoliidae - Scoliid Wasps


Superfamily Thynnoidea

Family Chyphotidae - Chyphotid Wasps


Family Thynnidae - Thynnid Wasps


Superfamily Tiphioidea

Family Sierolomorphidae - Sierolomorphid Wasps


Family Tiphiidae - Tiphiid Wasps


Superfamily Vespoidea

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)
Internet References
Wasps of Illinois -- visual guide
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.
Contributed by john and jane balaban on 11 June, 2007 - 7:19am
Additional contributions by Beatriz Moisset, waspGeorge, John S. Ascher, Aaron Schusteff, ceiseman, v belov, KenW
Last updated 4 May, 2023 - 1:20pm

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