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Hunting wasps are members of various
taxa In biology, a taxon (back-formation from ''taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular nam ...
of the insect order
Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typic ...
. Their habits and
affinities In post-classical history, an affinity was a collective name for the group (retinue) of (usually) men whom a lord gathered around himself in his service; it has been described by one modern historian as "the servants, retainers, and other fol ...
vary in many ways, but all practise parental care of their larvae in that they capture prey, usually insects, to feed their larvae. Whether solitary or social, most species construct some form of protection or nest in which they hide the prey and in which the larvae can feed and pupate in reasonable security. Most solitary hunting wasps sting their prey in such a manner as to paralyse it without killing it. As a result it remains fresh for the young to eat. In contrast carnivorous social wasps generally feed prey piecemeal to the larvae as soon as they bring it back to the colony, so there is no need for preservation of the material. A minority of solitary hunting wasps, such as certain
Bembicinae The Bembicinae comprise a large subfamily of crabronid wasps that includes over 80 genera and over 1800 species which have a worldwide distribution. They excavate nests in the soil, frequently in sandy soils, and store insects of several orders ...
, also butcher their prey before feeding it to the larvae.


Overview

''Hunting wasp'' is not a biological
taxon In biology, a taxon ( back-formation from '' taxonomy''; plural taxa) is a group of one or more populations of an organism or organisms seen by taxonomists to form a unit. Although neither is required, a taxon is usually known by a particular n ...
, but rather describes certain ecological strategies that occur within the
Hymenoptera Hymenoptera is a large order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typic ...
. All hunting wasps are members of the
Aculeata Aculeata is a subclade of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cannot ...
, within the
Apocrita Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. It includes wasps, bees, and ants, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from Symphyta by the narrow "waist" ( petiole) formed ...
, but not all Aculeata are hunting wasps. Nor are the hunting wasps a single
clade A clade (), also known as a monophyletic group or natural group, is a group of organisms that are monophyletic – that is, composed of a common ancestor and all its lineal descendants – on a phylogenetic tree. Rather than the English ter ...
within the Aculeata; they almost certainly have evolved independently several times, sometimes probably several times within the same family. Some superfamilies of the Hymenoptera (e.g.
Chrysidoidea The superfamily Chrysidoidea is a very large cosmopolitan group (some 6,000 described species, and many more undescribed) , all of which are parasitoids or cleptoparasites of other insects. There are three large, common families (Bethylidae, Chr ...
) include a few taxa that might fairly be called hunting wasps, but no superfamily includes only hunting wasps.


Distinction between hunting wasps and "solitary wasps"

In searching literature for "hunting wasps" it is prudent to include "solitary wasps" in the index terms. The two expressions have been used largely indiscriminately, especially in the very early days of modern entomology. Very few references to "hunting wasps" occur before about 1850, whereas references to "solitary wasps", though not plentiful, are not unusual. Critically viewed, the terms are not strictly interchangeable. Not all solitary wasps are hunting wasps, nor are all hunting wasps solitary. The term "solitary wasps" simply describes those Hymenoptera (especially aculeate Hymenoptera) that are not social, particularly not
eusocial Eusociality (from Greek εὖ ''eu'' "good" and social), the highest level of organization of sociality, is defined by the following characteristics: cooperative brood care (including care of offspring from other individuals), overlapping gen ...
. However, it never has been common practice to refer to parasitic Hymenoptera as "solitary", even though they definitely are nothing like eusocial, and secondly, some obligately social, even eusocial, Hymenoptera are hunting wasps in the sense of being predominantly predatory (e.g. ''Vespa'' and ''Polistes'' species). Thirdly, some solitary wasps, such as the Masarinae, are in no sense "hunting wasps". (But to avert confusion, consult the article on Euparagia.)


Taxonomy and biology

The taxa considered here are no more than a subset of those detailed in the article on the
Apocrita Apocrita is a suborder of insects in the order Hymenoptera. It includes wasps, bees, and ants, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from Symphyta by the narrow "waist" ( petiole) formed ...
. Nor are they listed here in the same sequence as in that article, but have been rearranged for convenience in discussing hunting wasp biology. In comparing the various hunting wasp taxa listed here, it is of fundamental importance to bear the following point in mind: supposing that members of one taxon exhibit adaptations to a given life history or biological strategy, and that another taxon has similar adaptations apparently more sophisticated, that need not in itself imply that either is descended from, or relevantly related to, the other. The reason for mentioning such taxa in close context is purely for suggestive illustration. Where the ancestral record of the more sophisticated strategy is unavailable, it often may be reasonable to observe that intermediate stages resembling the mechanisms of extant forms could be perfectly viable. For example, it seems plausible that a digger wasp such as a member of the Sphecidae might have had an ancestor that simply hid prey in available tunnels in much the same way that some
Bethylidae The Bethylidae are a family of aculeate wasps in the superfamily Chrysidoidea. As a family, their biology ranges between parasitoid wasps and hunting wasps. Overview Like most of the Chrysidoidea, the Bethylidae are stinging Hymenoptera and mo ...
still do, but it does not follow that the extant digger Sphecidae are descendants of the Bethylidae. Bearing this in mind, and that each of the superfamilies under discussion includes families other than those listed here, families that are in no way hunting wasps, consider the following, consulting the links and references for detailed discussion of the biology: *Superfamily
Chrysidoidea The superfamily Chrysidoidea is a very large cosmopolitan group (some 6,000 described species, and many more undescribed) , all of which are parasitoids or cleptoparasites of other insects. There are three large, common families (Bethylidae, Chr ...
**Family
Bethylidae The Bethylidae are a family of aculeate wasps in the superfamily Chrysidoidea. As a family, their biology ranges between parasitoid wasps and hunting wasps. Overview Like most of the Chrysidoidea, the Bethylidae are stinging Hymenoptera and mo ...
::The Chrysidoidea are not normally regarded as other than
parasitoid In evolutionary ecology, a parasitoid is an organism that lives in close association with its host (biology), host at the host's expense, eventually resulting in the death of the host. Parasitoidism is one of six major evolutionarily stable str ...
s,
parasite Parasitism is a close relationship between species, where one organism, the parasite, lives on or inside another organism, the host, causing it some harm, and is adapted structurally to this way of life. The entomologist E. O. Wilson h ...
s, and
kleptoparasite Kleptoparasitism (etymologically, parasitism by theft) is a form of feeding in which one animal deliberately takes food from another. The strategy is evolutionarily stable when stealing is less costly than direct feeding, which can mean when foo ...
s. Nor are they seriously considered as hunting wasps in this article, but some members of the family Bethylidae do have very suggestive patterns of reproductive biology. Though the details vary, these members of largely parasitoidal wasp taxa hunt their prey, paralyse them in various ways, including malaxation, drag them off, and conceal them before laying eggs on them. Many variations on the theme occur in the family. Observation of such members of the Bethylidae provides material of great evolutionary interest. It strongly suggests that various forms of parasitoidal behaviour within the Hymenoptera independently provided preadaptation for the development of typical hunting wasp behaviour. *Superfamily
Apoidea The superfamily Apoidea is a major group within the Hymenoptera, which includes two traditionally recognized lineages, the " sphecoid" wasps, and the bees. Molecular phylogeny demonstrates that the bees arose from within the traditional " Crabroni ...
Although it had long been realised that bees were in essence a natural grouping of wasps that fed primarily on nectar and pollen, it took the development of molecular biology to demonstrate the actual grouping of true bees with the following families of definitive hunting wasps. **Family
Ampulicidae The Ampulicidae, or cockroach wasps, are a small (about 170 species), primarily tropical family of sphecoid wasps, all of which use various cockroaches as prey for their larvae. They tend to have elongated jaws, pronounced neck-like constriction ...
These cockroach wasps are a popular example of a primitive mode of hunting wasp behaviour; they do not build a secure nest for their prey plus its egg, but conceal it in the most convenient crack or burrow, in which respect their behaviour resembles that of some of the Bethylidae. **Family
Crabronidae The Crabronidae are a large paraphyletic group (nominally a family) of wasps, including nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over 9 ...
A very large family with varied habits and a wide range of prey species. Crabronid species in some taxa concentrate on flies, others on bees, others on cicadas, but the overwhelming majority build tunnels, whether single or branched, with one or more larvae inside. **Family
Sphecidae The Sphecidae are a cosmopolitan family of wasps of the suborder Apocrita that includes sand wasps, mud daubers, and other thread-waisted wasps. The name Sphecidae was formerly given to a much larger grouping of wasps. This was found to be ...
These are a widely varied family, including the digger wasps and mud daubers *Superfamily
Vespoidea Vespoidea is a superfamily of wasps in the order Hymenoptera, although older taxonomic schemes may vary in this categorization, particularly in whether to recognize the superfamilies Scolioidea (for scoliid wasps) or Formicoidea (for ants). V ...
**Family
Pompilidae Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group-ne ...
(
spider wasp Wasps in the family Pompilidae are commonly called spider wasps, spider-hunting wasps, or pompilid wasps. The family is cosmopolitan, with some 5,000 species in six subfamilies. Nearly all species are solitary (with the exception of some group-ne ...
s) **Family
Tiphiidae The Tiphiidae (also known as the tiphiid wasps) are a family of large, solitary wasps whose larvae are parasitoids of various beetle larvae, especially those in the superfamily Scarabaeoidea. Until recently, this family contained several addition ...
These are generally large wasps that hunt subterranean insects, usually beetle larvae. Commonly they do little to conceal the paralysed prey, but lay the egg on it underground. **Family
Vespidae The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as ''Polistes fuscatus'', ''Vespa orientalis'', and ''Vespula germanica'') and many solitary wasps. Each ...
Another large and varied family. They include the social wasps such as
paper wasp Paper wasps are vespid wasps that gather fibers from dead wood and plant stems, which they mix with saliva, and use to construct nests made of gray or brown papery material. Some types of paper wasps are also sometimes called umbrella wasps, d ...
s and
hornet Hornets (insects in the genus ''Vespa'') are the largest of the eusocial wasps, and are similar in appearance to their close relatives yellowjackets. Some species can reach up to in length. They are distinguished from other vespine wasps by t ...
s. These are hunting wasps in the sense that they hunt animal food, generally insects, but they do not subtly paralyse them; instead they more or less butcher them and carry the most nutritious portions back to the colony to feed the young progressively. Other Vespidae include the solitary potter wasps, that are classical examples of hunting wasps of the kind that build their nests out of mud. The Masarinae or pollen wasps are the major exception in the family in that they do not hunt at all, but instead feed their larvae pollen and nectar, as many members of the superfamily Apoidea do.


History in literature

The hunting wasps have long been known and have attracted the attention of generations of naturalists, but the term "hunting wasp" hardly appeared in literature published before the mid 19th century. Authors more often used the term "solitary wasp". Probably the most notable early books on the subject were the French collections of essays by
Jean Henri Fabre Jean-Henri Casimir Fabre (21 December 1823 – 11 October 1915) was a French naturalist, entomologist, and author known for the lively style of his popular books on the lives of insects. Biography Fabre was born on 21 December 1823 in Saint- ...
, which later were translated into English by
Alexander Teixeira de Mattos Alexander Louis Teixeira de Mattos (April 9, 1865 – December 5, 1921), known as Alexander Teixeira de Mattos, was a Dutch-English journalist, literary critic and publisher, who gained his greatest fame as a translator. Early life The Teix ...
in the early 20th century. There were earlier publications, usually informal, including some by deservedly prominent authors, such as the Peckhams, whose working lives overlapped that of Fabre. However, most works before the late 19th century tended to be isolated observations and now require cautious interpretation of the species concerned, partly because most authors were amateurs, and partly because very little work had yet been accomplished along the lines of modern taxonomy. Goldsmith, Oliver. ''A history of the earth: and animated nature'', Volume 8. 1814 This is no reason to disrespect the authors of the time; even a century later, advances in molecular biology have led to an upheaval in Hymenopteran taxonomy that, however necessary, is a source of
cognitive dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is the perception of contradictory information, and the mental toll of it. Relevant items of information include a person's actions, feelings, ideas, beliefs, values, and things in the environmen ...
in workers brought up in the 20th century tradition, and who, for example, never would have thought of classifying hunting wasp taxa among the
Apoidea The superfamily Apoidea is a major group within the Hymenoptera, which includes two traditionally recognized lineages, the " sphecoid" wasps, and the bees. Molecular phylogeny demonstrates that the bees arose from within the traditional " Crabroni ...
.


References

{{Reflist Wasps Insect behavior Hymenoptera ecology