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Apocrita |
A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is neither bee nor ant. An ocellus (plural ocelli) is a type of Photoreceptor organ in animals In Anatomy, the dorsum is the upper side of animals that typically run fly or swim in a horizontal position and the back side of animals (like humans that walk upright A stinger (a Colloquialism for the term "sting" is a common term for a sharp organ or body part found in various Animals (typically Arthropods This article is about the class of Biotoxins For other uses see Venom (disambiguation and Venomous (disambiguation. Insects ( Class Insecta) are a major group of Arthropods and the most diverse group of Animals on the Earth with over a million described Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects comprising the sawflies, Wasps Bees and Ants The name refers to Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea Ants are social Insects of the family Formicidae and along with the related families of Wasps and Bees belong to the order The suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from members of Apocrita by having a broader connection between the mesosoma and metasoma. Symphyta redirects here For the Moth Genus, see Symphyta (genus. Symphyta redirects here For the Moth Genus, see Symphyta (genus. The term wood Wasp is a colloquial name applied to various unrelated families of Symphyta, whose only shared feature is that the larvae are found in wood The mesosoma is the middle part of the body or tagma, of Arthropods whose body is composed of three parts the other two being the Prosoma and the The metasoma is the posterior part of the body or tagma, of Arthropods whose body is composed of three parts the other two being the Prosoma and the In addition to this, Symphyta larvae are mostly herbivorous and "caterpillarlike", whereas those of Apocrita are largely predatory or "parasitic" (technically known as parasitoid). A larva ( Latin; plural larvae) is a juvenile form of Animal with indirect development, undergoing Metamorphosis (for example Herbivory is a form of Predation in which an Organism, known as a herbivore, consumes principally Autotrophs ref name=Campbell>Campbell Caterpillars are the Larval form of a member of the order Lepidoptera (the Insect order comprising butterflies and Moths A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host Organism which it ultimately kills
The most familiar wasps belong to Aculeata, a division of Apocrita, whose ovipositors are adapted into a venomous stinger. The ovipositor is an organ used by some of the Animals for Oviposition, i This article is about the class of Biotoxins For other uses see Venom (disambiguation and Venomous (disambiguation. A stinger (a Colloquialism for the term "sting" is a common term for a sharp organ or body part found in various Animals (typically Arthropods Aculeata also contains ants and bees. In this respect, insects called "velvet ants" (the family Mutillidae) are technically wasps. Mutillidae, or velvet ants, are a family of Wasps whose wingless females resemble Ants though only distantly related
A much narrower and simpler but popular definition of the term wasp is any member of the Aculeate family Vespidae, which includes (among others) the genera known in North America as yellowjackets (Vespula and Dolichovespula) and hornets (Vespa). The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species diverse cosmopolitan family of Wasps including nearly all the known Eusocial wasps and many Solitary Yellowjacket or yellow-jacket is the Common name in North America for predatory Wasps of the genera Vespula and Hornets are the largest eusocial Wasps that reach up to 45 Millimetres (1
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Categorization
The various species of wasp fall into one of two main categories: solitary wasps and social wasps. In Biology, a species is one of the basic units of Biological classification and a Taxonomic rank. Adult solitary wasps generally live and operate alone, and most do not construct nests; all adult solitary wasps are fertile. By contrast, social wasps exist in colonies numbering up to several thousand strong and build nests—but in some cases not all of the colony can reproduce. Generally, just the wasp queen and male wasps can mate, whilst the majority of the colonies are made up of sterile female workers.
Characteristics
The following characteristics are present in most wasps:
- two pairs of wings (except wingless or brachypterous forms in all female Mutillidae, Bradynobaenidae, many male Agaonidae, many female Ichneumonidae, Braconidae, Tiphiidae, Scelionidae, Rhopalosomatidae, Eupelmidae, and various other families). Insect wings are outgrowths of the Insect Exoskeleton that enable insects to fly. Mutillidae, or velvet ants, are a family of Wasps whose wingless females resemble Ants though only distantly related Fig wasps are Wasps of the family Agaonidae which pollinate Figs or are otherwise associated with figs Ichneumonidae is a family within the Insect order Hymenoptera. Braconidae is a family of Parasitoid Wasps and one of the richest family of Insects From the approximate 12000 described species (the braconids Tiphiidae (also known as the Tiphiid wasps or rarely flower wasps) is a family of large solitary Wasps whose larvae are almost universally The Hymenopteran family Scelionidae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species in some 160 genera of exclusively Parasitoid wasps mostly Rhopalosomatidae is a family of Hymenoptera. It contains 37 extant species in four genera Eupelmidae is a family of Parasitic wasps in the superfamily Chalcidoidea.
- An ovipositor, or stinger (which is only present in females because it derives from the ovipositor, a female sex organ). The ovipositor is an organ used by some of the Animals for Oviposition, i A stinger (a Colloquialism for the term "sting" is a common term for a sharp organ or body part found in various Animals (typically Arthropods
- Few or no hairs (in contrast to bees); except Mutillidae, Bradynobaenidae, Scoliidae. Hair is a keratinised protein filament that grows through the epidermis from follicles deep within the Dermis.
- Nearly all wasps are terrestrial; only a few specialized parasitic groups are aquatic.
- Predators or parasitoids, mostly on other terrestrial insects; some species of Pompilidae, such as the tarantula hawk, specialize in using spiders as prey, and various parasitic wasps use spiders or other arachnids as reproductive hosts. A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host Organism which it ultimately kills Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps (in South America, species may be referred to colloquially as marabunta or The tarantula hawk is the common name for species in the genera Pepsis and Hemipepsis of the family Pompilidae, in the insect Spiders are Predatory Invertebrate Animals that have two body segments, eight legs no chewing mouth parts and no wings
Wasps are critically important in natural biocontrol. Biological control of pests in Agriculture is a method of controlling pests (including Insects Mites Weeds and plant diseases Almost every pest insect species has a wasp species that is a predator or parasite upon it. Parasitic wasps are also increasingly used in agricultural pest control as they have little impact on crops. Pest control refers to the regulation or management of a Species defined as a pest, usually because it is perceived to be detrimental to a person's Health Wasps also constitute an important part of the food chain. Food chains, also called food networks and/or trophic networks, describe the feeding relationships between species within an Ecosystem.
Biology
Genetics
In wasps, as in other Hymenoptera, sexes are significantly genetically different. Yellowjacket or yellow-jacket is the Common name in North America for predatory Wasps of the genera Vespula and Mutillidae, or velvet ants, are a family of Wasps whose wingless females resemble Ants though only distantly related Sphecidae ( Latreille, 1802) is a cosmopolitan family of Wasps that include Digger wasps Mud daubers and other familiar types that all California ( is a US state on the West Coast of the United States, along the Pacific Ocean. Tiphiidae (also known as the Tiphiid wasps or rarely flower wasps) is a family of large solitary Wasps whose larvae are almost universally Hymenoptera is one of the larger orders of Insects comprising the sawflies, Wasps Bees and Ants The name refers to An organism's sex is defined by the gametes it produces males produce male gametes (spermatozoa or Sperm) while females produce female gametes (ova or Egg cells; individual Genetics (from Ancient Greek grc-Latn genetikos, “genitive” and that from grc-Latn genesis, “origin” a discipline of Biology, is Females have a diploid (2n) number of chromosomes and come about from fertilized eggs. "Haplo" redirects here For the fictional character see The Death Gate Cycle. A chromosome is an organized structure of DNA and Protein that is found in cells. Males, in contrast, have a haploid (n) number of chromosomes and develop from an unfertilized egg. "Haplo" redirects here For the fictional character see The Death Gate Cycle. Wasps store sperm inside their body and control its release for each individual egg as it is laid; if a female wishes to produce a male egg, she simply lays the egg without fertilizing it. Therefore, under most conditions in most species, wasps have complete voluntary control over the sex of their offspring.
Anatomy and gender
Anatomically, there is a great deal of variation between different species of wasp. Like all insects, wasps have a hard exoskeleton covering their 3 main body parts. An exoskeleton is an external Skeleton that supports and protects an animal's body in contrast to the internal Endoskeleton of for example a Human. These parts are known as the head, metasoma and mesosoma. In Anatomy, the head of an Animal is the Rostral part (from Anatomical position that usually comprises the Brain, Eyes The metasoma is the posterior part of the body or tagma, of Arthropods whose body is composed of three parts the other two being the Prosoma and the The mesosoma is the middle part of the body or tagma, of Arthropods whose body is composed of three parts the other two being the Prosoma and the Wasps also have a constricted region joining the first and second segments of the abdomen (the first segment is part of the mesosoma, the second is part of the metasoma) known as the petiole. In Entomology, the term petiole is most commonly used to refer to the constricted first (and sometimes second Metasomal segment of members of the Hymenopteran Like all insects, wasps have 3 sets of 2 legs. In addition to their compound eyes, wasps also have several simple eyes known as ocelli. An ocellus (plural ocelli) is a type of Photoreceptor organ in animals These are typically arranged in a triangular formation just forward of an area of the head known as the vertex. In Arthropod and Vertebrate Anatomy, the vertex (or cranial vertex) refers to the upper surface of the head
It is possible to distinguish between certain wasp species genders based on the number of divisions on their antennae. Antennae (singular antenna) are paired Appendages connected to the front-most segments of Arthropods In Crustaceans they are Male Yellowjacket wasps for example have 13 divisions per antenna, while females have 12. Males can in some cases be differentiated from females by virtue of the fact that the upper region of the male's mesosoma(called the tergum) consists of an additional terga. The total number of terga is typically 6. The difference between sterile female worker wasps and queens also varies between species but generally the queen is noticeably larger than both males and other females.
Wasps can be differentiated from bees as bees have a flattened hind basitarsus. The arthropod leg is a form of jointed Appendage of Arthropods usually used for Walking. Unlike bees, wasps generally lack plumose hairs. They vary in the number and size of hairs they have between species.
Diet
Generally wasps are parasites as larvae, and feed only on nectar as adults. Parasitism is a type of symbiotic relationship between Organisms of different Species. Though relatively uncommon, some wasps are omnivorous, feeding on a variety of fallen fruit, nectar, and carrion. Many wasps are predatory, preying on other insects. Certain social wasp species, such as yellowjackets, scavenge for dead insects to provide for their young. In turn the brood provides sweet secretions for the adults.
In parasitic species, the first meals are almost always provided by the animal that the adult wasp used as a host for its young. Adult male wasps sometimes visit flowers to obtain nectar to feed on in much the same manner as honey bees. Nectar is a Sugar -rich liquid produced by plants It is produced either by the Flowers in which it attracts pollinating animals or by extrafloral This article refers collectively to all true honey bees for the "common" domesticated honey bee see European honey bee Honey bees Occasionally, some species, such as yellowjackets, invade honeybee nests and steal honey and/or brood.
Wasp parasitism
With most species, adult parasitic wasps themselves do not take any nutrients from their prey, and, much like bees, butterflies, and moths, they typically derive all of their nutrition from nectar. A nutrient is food or chemicals that an organism needs to live and grow or a substance used in an organism's metabolism which must be taken in from its environment Bees are flying Insects closely related to Wasps and Ants Bees are a Monophyletic lineage within the superfamily Apoidea A butterfly is an Insect of the order Lepidoptera. Like all Lepidoptera butterflies are notable for their unusual life cycle with a A moth is an Insect closely related to the Butterfly, both being of the order Lepidoptera. Parasitic wasps are typically parasitoids, and extremely diverse in habits, many laying their eggs in inert stages of their host (egg or pupa), or sometimes paralyzing their prey by injecting it with venom through their ovipositor. A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host Organism which it ultimately kills A pupa ( Latin pupa for doll pl pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some Insects undergoing transformation The ovipositor is an organ used by some of the Animals for Oviposition, i They then insert one or more eggs into the host or deposit them upon the host externally. The host remains alive until the parasitoid larvae are mature, usually dying either when the parasitoids pupate, or when they emerge as adults. In Roman mythology, the larvae or lemures (singular lemur) were the spectres or spirits of the dead they were the malignant version of the A parasitoid is an organism that spends a significant portion of its life history attached to or within a single host Organism which it ultimately kills A pupa ( Latin pupa for doll pl pupae or pupas) is the life stage of some Insects undergoing transformation
Social wasp reproductive cycle (temperate species only)
Wasps do not reproduce via mating flights like bees. Instead social wasps reproduce between a fertile queen and male wasp; in some cases queens may be fertilized by the sperm of several males. After successfully mating, the male's sperm cells are stored in a tightly packed ball inside the queen. A spermatozoon or spermatozoan ( pl spermatozoa) from the Ancient Greek σπέρμα (seed and ζῷον (living being and more commonly known The sperm cells are kept stored in a dormant state until they are needed the following spring. At a certain time of the year (often around autumn), the bulk of the wasp colony dies away, leaving only the young mated queens alive. During this time they leave the nest and find a suitable area to hibernate for the winter. For the ability of certain operating systems see Hibernate (OS feature Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression
First stage
After emerging from hibernation during early spring, the young queens search for a suitable nesting site. Upon finding an area for their future colony, the queen constructs a basic paper fiber nest roughly the size of a walnut into which she will begin to lay eggs. In most Birds and Reptiles an egg ( Latin ovum) is the Zygote, resulting from Fertilization of the Ovum.
Second stage
The sperm that was stored earlier and kept dormant over winter is now used to fertilize the eggs being laid. For soil improvement see Fertilization (soil. The storage of sperm inside the female queen allows her to lay a considerable number of fertilized eggs without the need for repeated mating with a male wasp. In Biology, mating is the pairing of opposite- Sex or hermaphroditic Organisms for copulation and in Social animals also to raise their For this reason a single female queen is capable of building an entire colony from only herself. The queen initially raises the first several sets of wasp eggs until enough sterile female workers exist to maintain the offspring without her assistance. All of the eggs produced at this time are sterile female workers who will begin to construct a more elaborate nest around their queen as they grow in number.
Third stage
By this time the nest size has expanded considerably and now numbers between several hundred and several thousand wasps. Towards the end of the summer, the queen begins to run out of stored sperm to fertilize more eggs. These eggs develop into fertile males and fertile female queens. Fertility is the natural capability of giving life As a measure "Fertility Rate" is the number of children born per couple person or population The male drones then fly out of the nest and find a mate thus perpetuating the wasp reproductive cycle. A life cycle is a period involving 1 Generation of an Organism through means of Reproduction, whether through Asexual reproduction or Sexual In most species of social wasp the young queens mate in the vicinity of their home nest and do not travel like their male counterparts do. The young queens will then leave the colony to hibernate for the winter once the other worker wasps and founder queen have started to die off. After successfully mating with a young queen, the male drones die off as well. Generally, young queens and drones from the same nest do not mate with each other; this ensures more genetic variation within wasp populations, especially considering that all members of the colony are theoretically the direct genetic descendants of the founder queen and a single male drone. Genetic diversity is a level of Biodiversity that refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species In practice, however, colonies can sometimes consist of the offspring of several male drones. Wasp queens generally (but not always) create new nests each year, probably because the weak construction of most nests render them uninhabitable after the winter.
Unlike most honey bee queens, wasp queens typically only live for one year (although exceptions are possible). Also, contrary to popular belief queen wasps do not organize their colony or have any raised status and hierarchical power within the social structure. @@@ main@@@ - title Hierarchy@@@ keywords structure; sociology; information@@@ review@@@ - They are more simply the reproductive element of the colony and the initial builder of the nest in those species which construct nests.
Wasp caste structure
Not all social wasps have castes that are physically different in size and structure. The Bembicini, or Sand wasps, are a large tribe of crabronid Wasps comprising 20 Genera. Crabronidae is a large family of Wasps that includes nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea In many polistine paper wasps and stenogastrines, for example, the castes of females are determined behaviorally, through dominance interactions, rather than having caste predetermined. The Polistinae are Eusocial Wasps closely related to the more familiar Yellowjackets but placed in their own subfamily containing four tribes The Stenogastrinae (sometimes referred to as hover wasps) are a subfamily of Indomalayan and New Guinean Vespid wasps with a diverse biology from solitary to All female wasps are potentially capable of becoming a colony's queen and this process is often determined by which female successfully lays eggs first and begins construction of the nest. Evidence suggests that females compete amongst each other by eating the eggs of other rival females. The queen may, in some cases, simply be the female that can eat the largest volume of eggs while ensuring that her own eggs survive (often achieved by laying the most). This process theoretically determines the strongest and most reproductively capable female and selects her as the queen. Once the first eggs have hatched, the subordinate females stop laying eggs and instead forage for the new queen and feed the young; that is, the competition largely ends, with the losers becoming workers, though if the dominant female dies, a new hierarchy may be established with a former "worker" acting as the replacement queen. Polistine nests are considerably smaller than many other social wasp nests, typically housing only around 250 wasps, compared to the several thousand common with yellowjackets, and stenogastrines have the smallest colonies of all, rarely with more than a dozen wasps in a mature colony.
Nesting habits
The type of nest produced by wasps can depend on the species and location. Many social wasps produce paper pulp nests on trees, in attics, holes in the ground or other such sheltered areas with access to the outdoors. By contrast solitary wasps are generally parasitic or predatory and only the latter build nests at all. Unlike honey bees, wasps have no wax producing glands. This article refers collectively to all true honey bees for the "common" domesticated honey bee see European honey bee Honey bees For the rock song by Nirvana see Beeswax (song. Beeswax is a natural Wax produced in the bee hive of Honey bees of the genus A gland is an organ in an animal's body that synthesizes a substance for release such as Hormones or Breast milk, often into the Bloodstream Many instead create a paper-like substance primarily from wood pulp. Wood fibers are gathered locally from weathered wood, softened by chewing and mixing with saliva. The pulp is then used to make combs with cells for brood rearing. More commonly, nests are simply burrows excavated in a substrate (usually the soil, but also plant stems), or, if constructed, they are constructed from mud.
Solitary wasps
The nesting habits of solitary wasps are more diverse than those of social wasps. Mud daubers and pollen wasps construct mud cells in sheltered places typically on the side of walls. Mud dauber (sometimes "dirt dauber" "dirt dobber" or "dirt diver" in the southern U Pollen wasps are unusual Wasps that are typically treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but have in the past sometimes been recognized as a separate family " Potter wasps similarly build vase-like nests from mud, often with multiple cells, attached to the twigs of trees or against walls. Potter wasps (or mason wasps) are a cosmopolitan Wasp group presently treated as a subfamily of Vespidae, but sometimes recognized in the past as a Most other predatory wasps burrow into soil or into plant stems, and a few do not build nests at all and prefer naturally occurring cavities, such as small holes in wood. A single egg is laid in each cell, which is sealed thereafter, so there is no interaction between the larvae and the adults, unlike in social wasps. In some species, male eggs are selectively placed on smaller prey, leading to males being generally smaller than females.
Social wasps
The nests of some social wasps, such as hornets, are first constructed by the queen and reach about the size of a walnut before sterile female workers take over construction. The queen initially starts the nest by making a single layer or canopy and working outwards until she reaches the edges of the cavity. Beneath the canopy she constructs a stalk to which she can attach several cells; these cells are where the first eggs will be laid. The queen then continues to work outwards to the edges of the cavity after which she adds another tier. This process is repeated, each time adding a new tier until eventually enough female workers have been born and matured to take over construction of the nest leaving the queen to focus on reproduction. For this reason, the size of a nest is generally a good indicator of approximately how many female workers there are in the colony. Social wasp colonies often have populations exceeding several thousand female workers and at least one queen. Polistes and some related types of paper wasp do not construct their nests in tiers but rather in flat single combs. Wasps of the cosmopolitan genus Polistes (the only genus in the tribe Polistini) are the most familiar of the polistine wasps and are the most common
Common families
- Agaonidae - fig wasps
- Chalcididae
- Chrysididae - cuckoo wasps
- Crabronidae - sand wasps and relatives, e. Fig wasps are Wasps of the family Agaonidae which pollinate Figs or are otherwise associated with figs Fig wasps are Wasps of the family Agaonidae which pollinate Figs or are otherwise associated with figs The Chalcididae are a moderate-sized family within the Chalcidoidea, composed mostly of Parasitoids and a few hyperparasitoids The family Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the Hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species of Parasitoid or Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the Hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species of Parasitoid or Crabronidae is a large family of Wasps that includes nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea g. the Cicada killer wasp
- Cynipidae - gall wasps
- Encyrtidae
- Eulophidae
- Eupelmidae
- Ichneumonidae, and Braconidae
- Mutillidae - velvet ants
- Mymaridae - fairyflies
- Pompilidae - spider wasps
- Pteromalidae
- Scelionidae
- Scoliidae - scoliid wasps
- Sphecidae - digger wasps
- Tiphiidae - flower wasps
- Torymidae
- Trichogrammatidae
- Vespidae - yellowjackets, hornets, paper wasps (umbrella), potter wasps, pollen wasps
See also
- Advertising colouration
- Common wasp
- Parasitic wasps, a diverse group of wasps
- Characteristics of common wasps and bees
- Volucella pellucens
- Mud daubers, a common group of wasps
- Bee-eaters, bird predators of wasps
- Tarantula hawk
External links
- A pictorial life cycle of organ pipe wasps
- Links to many parasitic wasps and other insects used for biological control
- Phylogeny of the order Hymenoptera contrasting the groups discussed in this article
- Medline Encyclopedia N.I.H. - Insect bites and stings, and a section regarding how to prevent them (prevention)
- DermNet arthropods/bites
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