Hymenoptera. The bees, bumblebees, ants, wasps and saw flies belong to that
order.
Hymenoptera is divided into different subordes. Namely suborder Symphyta
(This group has no waist, sawflies) and
suborder Apocrita. Apocrita is also divided into two groups. Namely: Parasitica and
Aculeta.
Parasitica: wasps or parasitic hymenoptera. The females have an ovipositor, with
the ovipositor they lay eggs into or near larvae. These larvae are eaten by the wasp larvae. There are several families.
The largest group are the ichneumon wasp (Ichmonidae). Other groups are: Braconidae,
chalcid wasps (Chalcidoidea), Gasteruptiidae, gall wasps (Cynipoidea) The plant
galls develop, when the eggs are laid.
Aculeata: In this group the ovipositor is is modified into an
stinger. With this stinger they can defend themselves (bees) or they can
stun a prey. In this group are also wasps with parasitic larvae. Spider
wasps look like ichneumon wasps, but have a sting to stun their hosts.
Jewel wasps (Chrysididae) have a sting too.
I have made subpages of some families. On this page I have placed a photo of
one species of the family and a link.
Large Rose Sawfly (Arge pagana) Family Argidae, Saw Flies
(Symphyta) Saw Flies
(Symphyta). Sawflies are closely related to wasps. But they don't have
the 'waist' of wasps. They
make no nest and have no social organization. Sawfly larvae feed on
leaves. The larvae look similar to the caterpillars, but they have six or
more pair of prolegs. Some larvae look like little slugs.
Ichneumon bucculentus Ichneumon wasps
(Ichneumonidae)
Ichneumonidae belongs to the group Parasitica. The females have an
ovipositor. Larvae are parasitic.
Large Earth Bumblebee, Buff-tailed Bumblebee
(Bombus terrestris) Bumblebees
Bumblebees (Bombus): Big hairy bees of the genus Bombus. They live in colonies. Only the queen
hibernates and starts a new colony next year. The nest is sometimes underground, but can also be built between
clumps of grass.
Social Wasps (Vespidae) Subfamily Paper Wasps,True Wasps
(Vespinae) The other subfamily: the Potter Wasps
The colonies exist one year. Each year the queen starts building a small nest. The nests are
constructed of paper. The paper is made of wood. The wasps have made the paper
by chewing on wood. The first wasps are the workers. In one year there can be
thousands in a colony. At the end of the summer the males and new queens appear. Only the fertilized queens
hibernate.
True wasps have their wings folded longitudinally when at rest. The eyes are kidney shaped.
Common wasp (Vespa
vulgaris)
Photo
3-4-2010. This is a queen. As you can see the queen more robust. The antennae of the males have 13 segments. The scapus (shaft) is the first segment. The workers have 12.
In Holland they are also called lemonade wasps, because they can be annoying in late summer and autumn.
Especially if you drink lemonade.
Queen Length: 16 - 19 mm, length workers 11 - 14 mm, length males 13 - 17
mm.
They look very much like the slightly larger German wasp (Vespula germanica).
The nest will be built underground in old nests of animals, but also in hollow trees and wall cavities.
In 2008 we had a nest between the roof and ceiling of the pantry. Until autumn we had no problem. Only when it was cold, you did see them in the pantry.
There they were walking around very slow. The year after they had disappeared.
Native to Europe, Asia, Japan en Northern America. Introduced
in New Zealand and Australia.
Three pictures of a worker of the common wasp,
30-10-2010
German: Gemeine Wespe French: La guêpe commune
Potter Wasps (Ancistrocerus) Family Social Wasps (Vespidae)
Ancistrocerus
spec. Subfamily Potter Wasps (Ancistrocerus)
Family Social Wasps (Vespidae)
Characteristic: Black with yellow stripes. A narrow tip.
Most males of the potter wasps have back-curved last segments of the
antennae.
There are many similar species. Ancistrocerus parietum, Ancistrocerus
gazella, Ancistrocerus quadratus, Ancistrocerus nigricornis, Ancistrocerus oviventris...
The nests can be found in holes in the wood. Like beetle galleries, boreholes. In the cells of the nest
are caterpillars as food for larvae. As with masonry bees, they close the cell.
Photos 18-4-2010
Solitary wasps
Spider wasps, Pompilidae
Spider wasps, Pompilidae
Which
species it is, I don't know. Spider wasps are slender with long legs. Usually they are black with a red or white markings on the front part of the abdomen. Unlike other wasps the first segment of the thorax
(pronotum) of spider wasps extends back to the tegulae (attachment scales of the wings).
They are solitary and hunt spiders. The spider is paralyzed with a poisonous sting
and then dragged into a nest. Or to a place where a nest is made. In the abdomen an egg is laid.
In Belgium and the Netherlands are approximately 70 species. There are four subfamilies. Ceropalinae, Pepsinae, Ctenocerinae, Pompilinae
They can also stabbing people.
Foto 11-8-2010. Maybe Caliadurgus fasciatellus or Priocnemis
(Pompilidae)
female. ????????
Auplopus carbonarius Family spider wasps (Pompilidae)
This spider wasp is completely black. The male has white spots on the face. The front of the abdomen is narrowed.
This is a common spider wasp in the Netherlands. The female in this photo drag the spider with it. It has
amputated the legs of the spider. This often happens with these spider
wasps.
The nests are unexcavated. Usually you can find them in crevices in walls or trees.
Ruby-tailed wasp, jewel wasp,cuckoo wasp
Family Chrysididae Probably Chrysis ignita
Of Chrysis ignita a distinction is made between some subspecies. Depending on size and host.
Ruby-tailed wasps have a beautiful bright metallic
colour. In the Netherlands and Belgium are about 60 species. Identification
of many species is not easy.
They do possess a stinging organ although there is no venom. (most species)
They have a hard
exoskeleton. They need it to protect
themselves, when the meet the host. For Ruby-tailed wasps lay their eggs in
the nests of other wasps, bees. (cuckoo wasps) The larvae of the ruby-tailed
wasps eat the bee or wasp larvae of their host.
They are variable in size.
Here you can find many species: Jewel
wasps!!
German: Goldwaspe - Gemeine Goldwespe, Feuer-Goldwespe
(Chrysis ignita)
Omalus aeneus
Family Chrysididae. I am not quite sure!
Very similar to Pseudomalus violaceus.
Difference: Tergite 3 = short> Omalus aeneus. Tergite 3 = long> Pseudo Malus violaceus
This
jewel wasp was about 5 mm and was constantly moving.
Thanks for helping me: Pietsje and Horst Jux.
Photo 12-6-2011
Pseudomalus auratus
Family Chrysididae
Small, about 3 or 4 mm and again... it was was constantly moving.
Thanks for helping me: Paolo Rosa. Here
more information.
Photos 10-7-2011
Family: Digger Wasps (Sphecidae)
Digger wasps are solitary wasps. They dig nests (tunnels) in sandy soil. There are several families
called diggar wasps.
Ectemnius subfamily:EctemniusFamily: Digger Wasps (Sphecidae) male
Females make their nest in decayed wood and they mainly supply it with hoverflies
(Syrphidae). They are solitary wasps, but they sometimes have the same
entrance to their nests. In our garden they have nests in the trunk of a dead apple tree.
Ectemnius cavifrons resembles Ectemnius cephalotes.
Species of the Ectemnius family don't dig in sand.
Length 14 mm.
June - October.
Indification by Toshko: A male of Ectemnius
cavifrons (Thomson). The shape of lower surface of first flagellar segment,
coloration of clypeal hairs and shape of inner mandibular edge and fore and
mid tarsal segments are diagnostic features for this species.
Thanks Toshko. Other experts believe, however, that the details are not clear enough.
Ivo
Raemakers (translated): I can't see the number cubitaalcels, but given the habit and
the not stemmed the abdomen, the thighs thickened and the structure of the propodeum, I
think Crossocerus. Thanks Ivo. Maybe Crossocerus nigritus
Photo
30-4-2010
Cerceris rybyensis
The prey are the bees Halictus, Lasioglossum and
Andrena. It stocks its nests with these solitary bees.
They like to nest in groups. They make a corridor right downwards with side
corridors with a cubbyhole on end.
Length 8 - 12 mm
June- September
Photos 21-8-2010
Field digger wasp (Mellinus arvensis) Family: Digger Wasps
Features: A narrow waist. The abdominal segments 2-5 have a yellow band. In section 4, the yellow band
is broken.
Flies of the family muscidae are often used as prey.
The nest is underground.
A black wasp. The orange spot on the hind shins is striking.
The legs are pale yellow with black. The male has strange antennas. Just visible in the picture.
Length of male 4.5 to 6.5 mm. Female: 6 to 7.5 mm.
Nests in stems, rotten wood. Their preys are mosquitoes, dust lice.
Europe, Asia (to Japan) and North America.
April - September
Photos 21-5-2011
Trypoxylon figulus Family: Digger Wasps
An entirely black, slender wasp.
Like the spider wasps the Trypoxylon figulus catches spiders (small), which are used as food for the larvae. They make their nest holes in plant stems, holes in wood, etc. They close the holes with some clay.
Length 8 - 15 mm. The male is much smaller than the female.
May - September.
Foto 19-6-2011
German: Töpfergrabwespe
Bees (Apidae), superfamily Apoidea, order
Hymenoptera.
When I think of bees, I always think of social honey bees and
beekeepers. But there are also many solitary species. They all feed on (
also the larvae) nectar and polllen. Bumble bees are close relatives
of the honey bees.
European honey bee, western honey bee (Apis mellifica)
The honey bee is a social bee, originally from South Asia.
In Europe it is found in wild and it is maintained by beekeepers.
The queen leaves her nest for the mating flight. The males you see especially in summer. Furthermore,
there are of course the workers.
The bees survive winter as a colony. A difference with the bumblebees.
The bee is easily recognized by their elongated radial cell near the front
wingtip.
German: Westliche Honigbiene, Europäische
Honigbiene. French: L'abeille européenne, l’avette, la mouche à miel
Solitary bees
Megachilinae
Leafcutter bee spec. (Megachile spec.)
Family Megachilinae
A solitary bee. The species are often difficult to identify
from a photo.
Leaf cutting bees cut circular pieces of leaves to
construct their nest. The nests are created in small holes in the
ground, but also in for example hollow plant stems. The nests contain several cells.
In each cell the bee with pollen and nectar the bee lays one egg.
On the photo you can see the yellow hairs on the
underside of the abdomen. (a kind of hairy brush) On these hairs they carry
pollen.
Characteristics
The head and thorax have yellowish brown hairs. Small bands of white hairs on the edge of the segments of the abdomen.
The male has expanded front tarsi, covered with long white hairs. The females
have conspicuous red fringes of hair (at the end black hairs), for carrying pollen, on the underside of their bodies.
They are nesting in holes in decayed wood, but also in large (6-9 mm) hollow reeds or in the ground. The
hole is lined with round / oval pieces of leaves, which they have cut.
Length 12-16 mm.
June - September
Photo 4-6-2011
Red mason bee (Osmia
rufa)Genus Osima Family Megachilinae
The female has a black head with 2 blunted horns. The body has reddish brown hair.
The end of the abdomen is black. The
underside of the abdomen has a kind orange yellow hairy brush.
The males have a yellow light facial hair.
They nest in holes in dead wood. You can also buy or make houses. For example
with hollow bamboo stems (0.5 to 0.8 cm)
Brood cells are closed by clay. In the cell with an egg cell there also are pollen and honey as food.
Length female 10-12 mm, male 9 to 10 mm.
March - June.
German: Rote Mauerbiene
On these photos you can see better the black
end of the abdomen. (Flower: white squill (Scilla mischtschenkoana)
Halicidae
Lasioglossum calceatum or Lasioglossum albipes Family
Halicidae male
These two species are very similar. The females
have a sweet fragrance.
It's a social bee. The female hibernates. In
spring it makes a nest in the ground. First the workers appear and then
the males and females.
Lasioglossum calceatumLength females 8 - 9 mm, length males 8 - 10 mm.
Lasioglossum albipes Length females 8 - 9 mm, length males 8 - 10 mm.
April - October.
Mining
Bees (Andrenidae)
Andrena spec. Family Mining
Bees (Andrenidae)
A solitary bee. Unfortunately not to identify.
Somme species make nests in the ground vertically,
other species horizontally. There are also differences in size and flight among the species.
There are 72 species in the Netherlands.
Tawny Mining Bee (Andrena fulva) Family Mining
Bees (Andrenidae) Female
It looks a bit like a bumblebee with his long
foxy red brown hairs. The legs are black.
You can often find them (also in our garden) on currants, gooseberries and other Ribes species.
Solitary. The females make the nest in sandy soil. Sometimes in the garden.
Small sand heaps with entrance hole in the middle. Diameter: 9 mm. Depth:
20 - 40 mm. The branched hole has oval cells. In each cell are pollen,
nectar and one egg.
Sometimes there are many nests together. But every bee has its own nest.
Length female 12-14 mm, length male 9 - 11
mm.
March - May.
German: Rotpelzige Sandbiene
Early Mining Bee (Andrena
haemorrhoa) Family Mining Bees (Andrenidae)
Solitairy. But they often fly in small groups.
The thorax is foxy red brown on top, the abdomen is black and without many
hairs.
Length 9 - 10 mm.
April - June.
German: Rotschopfige Erdbiene
Andrena tibialis. Family Mining
Bees (Andrenidae) female.
Photo 17-4-2010
At first I thought it was an Andrena carantonica. But Ivo
Raemakers commented: Because a whole orange scopa: no A. carantonica. Because
light hairy face: no A. nigroaenea. Remains A. tibialis. Thanks Ivo.
The number Andrena carantonica in the Netherlands seems to have decreased.
Length 8, 9 mm.
Flight: March - June
Andrena
subopaca Family Mining
Bees (Andrenidae) Photo
4-6-2010
I'm not quite sure. It is the most common wasp in the Netherlands
of the Andrena minutula group. These are small black bees, which are difficult to
identify. Other species, which belong to this group, are Andrena minutula, Andrena minutuloides, Andrena Saunders
ella, Andrena falsifica and Andrena viridescens.
In these pictures it is on Alliaria officinalis or Alliaria petiolata. At the top picture with a beetle (Byturus)
Sparsely hairy. Both on the head, thorax and the body are white hairs. The tip of the abdomen is brown. That is hard to see.
(picture on the bottom)
Length 5 - 7 mm.
Flight: March - August
Nomadinae
Wasp bee, Nomada spec. Family Nomadinae
A cuckoo bee. In the Netherlands, there are 43
species. I don't know the species. It looks like a wasp.
Like a cuckoo, they lay their eggs in nests of
other bee species. Often of mining bees. The nomada larvae kill the larvae
of the host, when they grow up.
Like other bees the nomada feeds on nectar and
pollen. But it lacks a pollen-carrying scopa. (Modifications
on the body of a non-parasitic bee for carrying pollen.) Parasitic bees
don't need to transport pollen.
Nomada fabriciana Family Nomadinae
March - August. 7 - 10 mm.
Photo 14-6-2011
Nomada goodeniana Family Nomadinae
March - June 10 - 14 mm.
Photo 16-5-2010
Nomada ruficornis Family Nomadinae
March - July. 8 - 11 mm.
Photo 17-4-2011
Nomada sheppardana Family Nomadinae April - August. 4 - 7 mm.
Photo 14-5-2010.
Halictidae
Sphecodes Family Halictidae
Like wasp bees Sphecodes are parasitic bees. (Most of groove bees) Many species are also very difficult to identify from a photograph. Usually they are black with a partially red abdomen. In the Netherlands there are 20 species. They don't carry pollen. Especially in the sandy areas they are common. (dunes)
Sphecodes monilicornis Family Halictidae.
This bee is easy to recognize. The head of Sphecodes monilicornis is behind the eyes wide, as in this photo shows.
The first three segments of the abdomen of the female are red. Of the fourth segment
only the side is the red.
Lasioglossums are the host.
Length 7-10 mm.
March to October.
You can find them mostly in a sandy, dry area.
Photo female
Sphecodes monilicornis 4-7-2011