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Sugar Ants
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ARTHROPODA:
INSECTA: HYMENOPTERA
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Bees, wasps, fire ants and ants
Social Insects
"Hymenoptera" comes from Greek words meaning
"membranous wings."
Photos & text by Dr. Robert Sprackland.
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Above: a small colorful wasp near Prague,
Czech Republic,
photographed in 1997.
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This large and familiar group of insects is
characterized by having two pairs of wings at some stage in life, and
having a distinct constriction between abdomen and thorax. The ovipositor
of non-fertile females is modified into a defensive, venom-injecting
sting. Most are social insects, living in hives or colonies, but a few are
solitary. Ants may be the most numerous visible animals on earth (in terms
of individuals), and may
account for tremendous biomass. Many plants are dependent upon specific
species of wasps to fertilize them, while honeybees are commercially
important producers of food and wax.
Though termed "social insects," some
hymenopterans are more social than others. Ants, termites and honeybees
may establish colonies or hives with thousands of members, while many
wasps are solitary except during breeding, and some bees live in small
groups of no more than a dozen or so.
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At right is a solitary burrowing wasp excavating a
new home. This small (1 cm/ 1/3-inch) species is found on Fitzroy Island,
near Cairns, Queensland, Australia.
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A small and very active wasp (left) from the
rainforest along the south bank of the Fly River, about 8 miles east of
Kiunga, Western Province, Papua New Guinea. |
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The wasp at right was
photographed in the courtyard of Kiunga Guest House in Papua New Guinea.
It measures about 1.75 cm in length.
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