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Bees Alive! is migrating - this is the new page...
Hymenoptera: insects that bite and sting
Hymenoptera is an extremely large order of insects which includes bees, wasps, fire ants and sawflies. The classification system constantly evolves to reflect new discoveries and understandings of this vast group of insects.  This page presents Order Hymenoptera, its sub- and infra-orders, and the family divisions that fall under them. We are concerned with bees and wasps as they are the most easily confused. Further down, I include an accepted classification structure from order to family, with links when relevant. Some good stock photos can be found through the photo link to the left. More detailed pages follow this one:
- Types of Bees:
- An overview of the Families, Subfamilies, Tribes and Genera within Superfamily Apoidea
- A discussion of the seven bee species and sub-species within the genus, Apis, such as the Western honeybee.
- Wasps and Hornets:
- An exploration of the Families and Genera within Superfamily Vespoidea - keep in mind that wasps are a vast group of insects that span multiple rankings. Only one narrow group - the one that shares the most with bees - is examined here.
- Sawflies:
- A good discussion is presented by the University of Minnesota. I've included this link as they advocate natural solutions for dealing with infestations first and chemical control of the sawfly only as a last resort.
- Fire Ants:
- This site has a lot of interesting information about fire ant stings and how these insects live and work, but offers no options for dealing with infestations other than killing them.
Hymenoptera In More Detail As touched on on the previous page - Classification of Living Things - members of this order have two pairs of heavy wings. The rearmost pair are hooked to the front pair by hamuli (singular: hamulus) or hooklike barbs. The females have a special protruding apparatus for inserting eggs into cells and other locations called an ovipositor. This useful tool often doubles as a stinger. Males are stingerless and are thus unable to participate in colony defense. From birth, young insects in this order go through both larval and pupal stages before adulthood. Other distinguishing characteristics include well-developed mouths that are able to chew and often have protrusions that enable the uptake and regurgitation of fluids. As well, these insects have compound eyes - to oversimplify, this means that the eye is made up of several tiny units, each with its own cornea and lens. Compound eyes specialize in movement detection rather than detail. The following chart shows the classification of the Order to the Family rank. The Families of sawflies are not displayed here. Text in green represents the more common names for groupings. See links within the table to find more detailed information on the rank in question. | Order | Suborder | Infraorder | Superfamily | Family | | Hymenoptera | Symphyta
sawflies, horntails, parasitic wood wasps | Cephoidea | Cephidae
stem sawflies | | Orussoidea | Orussidae
parasitic wood wasps | | Pamphilioidea | Megalodontesidae
Pamphiliidae leaf-rolling & web-spinning sawflies | Siricoidea
wood wasps | Anaxyelidae
cedar wood wasps
Siricidae horntails | Tenthredinoidea
Sawflies | Argidae
argid sawflies
Blasticotomidae fern sawflies
Cimbicidae
cimbicid sawflies
Diprionidae
conifer sawflies
Pergidae
pergid sawflies
Tenthredinidae common sawflies
| | Xiphydrioidea | Xiphydriidae
wood wasps | | Xyeloidea | Xyelidae
xyelid sawflies | Apocrita
ants, bees, true wasps | Aculeata | Apoidea | Ampulicidae
Andrenidae
Angarosphecidae
Apidae
Colletidae
Crabronidae
Halictidae
Heterogynaidae
Megachilidae
Melittidae
Paleomelittidae
Sphecidae
Stenotritidae | | Bethylonymoidea | Bethylonymidae | | Chrysidoidea | Bethylidae
bethylid wasps
Chrysididae cuckoo wasps
Dryinidae
dryinid wasps
Embolemidae
Plumariidae
Sclerogibbidae
Scolebythidae | Vespoidea
vespoid wasps | Bradynobaenidae
Falsiformicidae
Formicidae
Mutillidae
velvet ants
Pompilidae
spider wasp
Rhopalosomatidae
Sapygidae
Scoliidae
Sierolomorphidae
Tiphiidae
Vespidae
hornets, paper wasps, potter wasps, yellowjackets | Terebrantes
wasps | Ceraphronoidea | Ceraphronidae
Maimetshidae
Megaspilidae
Stigmaphronidae | | Chalcidoidea chalcidoid wasps | see families below | | Cynipoidea | Archaeocynipidae
Austrocynipidae
Cynipidae
gall wasps
Figitidae
Ibaliidae
Liopteridae
Rasnicynipidae | | Evanioidea | Aulacidae
Evaniidae
Gasteruptiidae
Praeaulacidae | | Ichneumonoidea | Braconidae
Eoichneumonidae
Ichneumonidae
Praeichneumonidae | | Megalyroidea | Megalyridae | | Mymarommatoidea | Mymarommatidae | | Platygastroidea | Platygastridae
Scelionidae | | Proctotrupoidea | see families below | | Serphitoidea | Serphitidae | | Stephanoidea | Stephanidae | | Trigonaloidea | Trigonalidae |
Agaonidae (fig wasps), Aphelinidae, Chalcididae (chalcidid wasps, chalcidids, chalcids), Encyrtidae (encyrtid wasps, encyrtids), Eucharitidae (eucharitids), Eulophidae (eulophid wasps, eulophids), Eupelmidae (eupelmids), Eurytomidae (eurytomids, jointworms, seed chalcids), Leucospidae (leucospids), Mymaridae (fairyflies), Ormyridae (armyrids), Perilampidae (perilampids), Pteromalidae ((pteromalid wasps, pteromalids), Rotoitidae, Signiphoridae, Tanaostigmatidae ((tanaostigmatids), Tetracampidae, Torymidae (torymid wasps, torymids), Trichogrammatidae (trichogrammatid wasps, trichogrammatids).Austroniidae, Diapriidae (diapriids), Heloridae (helorids), Jurapriidae, Maamingidae, Mesoserphidae, Monomachidae, Pelecinidae (pelecinid wasps, pelecinids), Peradeniidae, Proctorenyxidae, Proctotrupidae (proctotrupids), Roproniidae (roproniids), Vanhorniidae (vanhorniids).
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