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Order Hymenoptera - Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies
Classification Kingdom Animalia (Animals)
Phylum Arthropoda (Arthropods)
Subphylum Hexapoda (Hexapods)
Class Insecta (Insects)
Order Hymenoptera (Ants, Bees, Wasps and Sawflies)
Synonyms and other taxonomic changes The higher taxonomy of Hymenoptera is in flux, so several traditional, artificial major groupings are retained for convenience both in the guide and many other sources. Recent advances in higher taxonomy summarized in (1)(2)(3). Explanation of Names Hymenoptera: Greek hymen 'membrane' + pteron 'wing'.
wasp: Old English waesp, waefs; the Indo-European root was *wops- (original meaning related to weave); Latin vespa is of the same origin; bee goes ca. 5,000 years back to the Indo-European bhī 'bee' (echoic of the buzzing) (Partridge 1958)
Numbers ca. 18,000 spp. in >2000 genera in our area (4)(5); worldwide, >153,000 spp. described (132 families, 8423 genera) (6) and ~1,000,000 estimated (1) (up to 3M, according to some workers)
Families represented in our area
Artificial/non-monophyletic groups names appear in "quotes"; taxa not yet in the guide marked (*).
"Symphyta" (superfamilies not used in the guide)
Superfamily Xyeloidea: Xyelidae
Superfamily Pamphilioidea: Pamphiliidae
Superfamily Cephoidea: Cephidae
Superfamily Siricoidea: Anaxyelidae · Siricidae
Superfamily Xiphydrioidea: Xiphydriidae
Superfamily Orussoidea: Orussidae
Size 0.2-115 mm, typically 2-30 mm (4)Identification Characteristics based on (4)(7):
Typically two pairs of wings, with forewings usually larger than hindwings, but some groups (such as ants) wingless in most life stages.
Wings have few cross-veins, these are angled to form closed cells.
Antennae typically with 10 or more segments. Often 13 segments in male, 12 in female, but sometimes as few as 3 or up to 60 segments.
Antennae longer than head, but usually not highly elongated (longer than head and thorax combined). Highly elongated in some parasitic groups.
Females have prominent ovipositor, modified in some groups to be a "stinger", used to paralyze prey and for defense.
Chewing mouthparts, but some groups have a "tongue" used for lapping up fluids, such as nectar.
Complete metamorphosis.
Several groups highly social ( eusocial), with separate reproductive and worker castes.
Excellent manual for identification (down to subfamily level): (8)
OVERVIEW OF HIGHER TAXA
Family Argidae - Argid Sawflies
Family Cephidae - Stem Sawflies
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Family Cimbicidae - Cimbicid Sawflies
Family Diprionidae - Conifer Sawflies
Family Orussidae - Parasitic Wood Wasps
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Family Pamphiliidae - Webspinning and Leafrolling Sawflies
Family Xiphydriidae - Xiphydriid Wood Wasps
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Family Stephanidae - Stephanid Wasps
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 winged female  wingless female
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Family Braconidae - Braconid Wasps
Family Ichneumonidae - Ichneumonid Wasps
Aculeata - Bees, Ants, and other Stinging Wasps
Apoidea I – Bees (Anthophila)
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
Apoidea II - Apoid Wasps (traditional Sphecidae)
Ampulicidae - Cockroach wasps
Sphecidae - Thread waisted 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
Habitat Varied. Many adults are found on flowers. Food 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. Life Cycle 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. Remarks 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.
for the latest arrangement, see (6)See Also wasps/bees are mimicked by many flies, moths, mantidflies, beetles, true bugs, spiders, and others --sometimes very convincingly.
Internet References Discover Life (info and keys)
Works Cited | 1. | Phylogeny and classification of Hymenoptera
Sharkey M.J. 2007. Zootaxa 1668: 521–548. | |
| 2. | Phylogenetic relationships among superfamilies of Hymenoptera
Sharkey M.J., Carpenter J.M., Vilhelmsen L., et al. 2012. Cladistics 28(1): 80-112. | |
| 3. | Evolutionary history of the Hymenoptera
Peters et al. 2017. Current Biology 27: 1–6. | |
| 5. | Catalog of Hymenoptera in America North of Mexico
Karl V. Krombein, Paul D. Hurd, Jr., David R. Smith, and B. D. Burks. 1979. Smithsonian Institution Press. | |
| 6. | Order Hymenoptera. In: Zhang Z-Q (ed) Animal biodiversity: An outline of higher-level classif. and survey of taxonomic richness
Aguiar AP, Deans AR, Engel MS, Forshage M, Huber JT, Jennings JT, Johnson NF, Lelej AS, Longino JT, Lohrmann V, Mikó I, Ohl M. 2013. Zootaxa 3703: 51–62. | |
| 8. | Hymenoptera of the world: an identification guide to families
Goulet H., Huber J., eds. 1993. Agriculture Canada Publication 1894/E. 668 pp. | |
| 9. | A List of Wasps Collected in Florida, March 29 to April 5, 1953, with biological annotations
Karl V. Krombein and Howard E. Evans. 1954. Proceedings of the Entomological Society of Washington. | |
Contributed by Troy Bartlett on 16 February, 2004 - 12:32pm Additional contributions by cotinis, john and jane balaban, Beatriz Moisset, Christopher C Wirth, Chuck Entz, waspGeorge, NFensler, Aaron Schusteff, Ron M., v belov, KenW, PaleoJon, Arturo Santos, Nathaniel GreenLast updated 24 December, 2022 - 8:43pm |
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