Wasp, Wasp - Characteristics, Wasp - Families, Wood wasps, How to tell bees from wasps, <i>Volucella pellucens</i>, Mud daubers are a common species of wasp.
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A wasp is any insect of the order Hymenoptera and suborder Apocrita that is not a bee, sawfly, or an ant. Less familiar, the suborder Symphyta includes the sawflies and wood wasps, which differ from the Apocrita by having a broad connection between the thorax and abdomen. Also, Symphyta larvae are mostly herbivorous and "caterpillarlike", whereas those of Apocrita are largely predatory or parasitic.
Most familiar wasps belong to the Aculeata, a division of the Apocrita, whose ovipositors are modif ...
The following characteristics are present in most wasps:
Two pairs of wings (exception: female Mutillidae)
A stinger (only present in females because it derives from the ovipositor)
Few or no hairs (in contrast to bees); exception: Mutillidae. Though less efficient than bees, some wasp species are significant pollinators.
Predators or parasitoids, mostly on other insects; some species of Pompilidae, such as the tarantula hawk, spec ...
