Types of Wasps
| Types of Wasps Apoid or Sphecid Wasps Sphecidae Family Thread-waisted Wasps Crabronidae Family Crabronid Wasps Types of Bees Vespid Wasps Family Vespidae Subfamily Masarinae: Pollen Wasp Subfamily Eumeninae: Potter and Mason Wasps Subfamily Polistinae: Paper Wasps Polistes aurifer Polistes bellicosus Polistes canadensis Polistes comanchus navajoe Polistes dorsalis Polistes exclamans Polistes fuscatus Polistes instabilis Polistes major Polistes metricus Mexican Honey Wasp Western Paper Wasp Subfamily Vespinae: Hornets and Yellowjackets Bald-faced Hornet Velvet Ants Spider Wasps: Pompilidae Sapygid Wasps Scolid Wasps Myzinum Ichneumonoidea Ichneumon Wasps Other Wasps Carrot Wasps Cuckoo Wasp Sawflies |
Home and garden interests, along with enthusiasm for the natural biological control work wasps provide on a global basis explains much of the wasp's popularity.
One hundred thousand plus species of ants, bees, sawflies and wasps constitute the order Hymenoptera, the second largest order of insects next to beetles.
Hymenoptera taxonomy constantly changes to reflect scientific consensus regarding the proper way to categorize such a large group of insects.Any discussion about types of wasps might naturally begin by defining them as all Hymenoptera that are not ants, bees or sawflies.
Starting in grade school, most students learn about wasps by comparing them to bees.
More specifically, bees and wasps share the physical characteristic of constricted waists. However, generally speaking, bees are hairy and wasps generally have few hairs on their body.
While that approach seems commonsense, a formal approach to identifying wasps involves a bit more consideration.
For example, entomologists also differentiate between wasps that are related to bees and those wasps that evolved separately from bees.
Formal groupings for the bee related wasps remains a topic of discussion. However, today, many entomologists recognize two different wasp families, Sphecidae and Crabronidae, as being related to bees.
In common terms, sometimes the phrases sphecid wasps versus vespid wasps are used to differentiate between the wasps related to bees and the wasps in the superfamily Vespoidea, which are related to ants.
Within the superfamily Vespoidae, perhaps the Vespid wasps (family Vespidae) pose the greatest concern to humans because of their habit of building nests in residential areas. Of specific concern is the fact that Vespid species tend to sting (multiple times) as a defensive mechanism, when their nests are threatened.
Hornets, paper wasps and yellowjackets are examples of common vespids found around residential areas.
Most people recognize yellowjackets (Paravespula) as the uninvited guests at many picnics.
Two genera of Vespid wasps, Dolichovespula and Vespula have member species with a yellowjacket name. They are all social wasps that build, and vigorously defend, ground nests.
As the colony grows over the course of a summer, the need for food expands. The presence of a sweet tooth partially explains their scavenging ways at picnics and barbecues.
Many homeowners opt to remove them when they nest around the home because their sting is painful.
Over one dozen different Vespula species live in the United States. Most of them share the bright yellow body of the species in the second picture.
One species, the Northern Red-banded Yellowjacket has a range limited mostly to Canada, with a small population in the northern United States. As the name suggests, its body is mostly red rather than yellow.
The thick abdomen of the yellowjacket also serves as a good clue to differentiate it from other types of wasps.
Differentiating between sphecid wasps and vespid wasps provides a sufficient start to, rather than conclusive end to a discussion of different types of wasps.
The wasp world extends to a variety of additional families and species. Many people are familiar with another large superfamily of wasps called, Ichneumonoidea, especially the large species of ichneumon wasps that live in fields and forests around the world.
Entomologists also invest a considerable amount of energy studying wasps in the Ichneumonoidea superfamily because of their utility as natural pest control agents. Many species lay their eggs in insect pests such as caterpillars and beetles.
Categorical subtleties aside, practical interest in the different types of wasps often deals with identifying species that sting and/or build nests in and around residential areas.
In the Apoid group the sphecid wasps rank among the easiest species to identify. Their long, thin waists give them the common name thread-waisted wasps. Five of the eleven sphecid genera are represented here:
Female apoid wasps do sting, however, in very general terms, they are not aggressive toward humans. As a group, their predatory behavior with respect to other insects often places many species in the beneficial insect category.
The species listed in the box on the right represent a small sample of native wasp families and genera that span the Hymenoptera world. Please click on a link to learn more about any species.
© 2005-2011 Patricia A. Michaels