Bees Alive! is migrating - this is the new page...

Often just called 'bees', wasps and hornets are actually the larger group, and bees are a specialized type of wasp

• two sets of wings
• the females sting
• three body segments
• three pairs of legs
• compound eyes in addition to simple eyes

Unlike bees, they:

• neither have 'hairy' bodies nor legs
• can sting multiple times (in stinging varieties)
• are parasitical or predatorial - they feed on other insects, their larvae or dead organic matter, rather than pollen and nectar

As was seen in the overview of Order, Hymenoptera, bees are concentrated in the Superfamily, Apoidea. Wasps, on the other hand, can be found within several ranks falling under Suborder Apocrita, indicating that there is a great deal more variety in wasps' biological characteristics, than in bees'. Indeed, they share categories with ants, sawflies and bees, in addition to having full ranks to themselves. Bees are just a specialized type of wasp that has evolved over time. This page is devoted to wasps and hornets.

A rough comparison of wasp (left) and bee (right) classifications is:

The following table is set up similarly to that found on the page for bee identification. For a nice discussion of members of infra-order Parasitica, I recommend the following site, the larger focus of which is hedges and hedgerows in the UK and Ireland. Note that all thumbnail photos can be clicked for enlargements. Some of these photos will open in a new window.

Infra- order	Super- family	Family	Sub-Family/ Genus	Examples
Aculeata	Apoidea	Ampulicidae cockroach wasps	Ampulex Aphelotoma Dolichurus Paradolichurus Riekefella Trirogma
		Andrenidae (mason bees)
		Apidae (several kinds of bees)
		Colletidae (plasterer bees)
		Crabronidae (cicadakillers, crabronid wasps, mud daubers, sand wasps)	Astatinae Bembicinae Crabroninae Mellininae Pemphredoninae Philanthinae
		Dasypodaidae
		Halictidae ("sweat bees")
		Heterogynaidae (spheciform apoid wasp)	Heterogyna
		Megachilidae (leaf-cutting bees)
		Meganomiidae
		Melittidae
		Sphecidae (digger wasps, mud daubers, thread-waisted wasps)	Ammophilinae Sceliphrinae Sphecinae
		Stenotritidae
	Chrysidoidea	Bethylidae
		Chrysididae (cuckoo wasps)	Amiseginae Chrysidinae Cleptinae Loboscelidiinae
		Dryinidae	Anteoninae Aphelopinae Apoaphelopinae Apodryininae Bocchinae Conganteoninae Dryininae Erwiniinae Gonatopodinae Plesiodryininae Transdryininae
		Embolemidae
		Plumariidae
		Sclerogibbidae
		Scolebythidae
	Vespoidea	Bradynobaenidae	Apterogyna Bradynobaenus Chyphotes Gynecaptera Typhoctes
		Formicidae (ants)
		Mutillidae (velvet ants)
		Pompilidae spider wasps	Ceropalinae Ctenocerinae Pepsinae Pompilinae
		Rhopalosomatidae rhopalosomatid wasps	Liosphex Olixon Paniscomima Rhopalosoma
		Sapygidae club-horned wasps	Araucania Asmisapyga Eusapyga Fedtschenkia Huarpea Krombeinopyga Monosapyga Parasapyga Polochridium Polochrum Sapyga Sapygina
		Scoliidae	Scoliinae Proscoliinae
		Sierolomorphidae
		Tiphiidae	Anthoboscinae Brachycistidinae Diamminae Methochinae Myzininae Thynninae Tiphiinae
		Vespidae	Eumeninae (potter wasps) Euparagiinae Masarinae (pollen wasps) Polistinae (paper wasps) Stenogastrinae Vespinae (yellowjackets, hornets)