Main Families

• Vespidae – Social wasps (e.g., Vespula, Polistes) and solitary burrowing wasps (Eumeninae)
• Mutillidae – Parasitic wasps, often winged in males and wingless in females (called “velvet ants”)
• Tiphiidae – Parasitoids of beetle larvae, often black or reddish
• Scoliidae – Large, hairy wasps, parasitoids of scarab beetle larvae
• Pompilidae – Spider hunters, fast-flying, often black or metallic blue

Habitat

Vespoidea inhabit a wide range of environments:

• Meadows, forest edges, open woodlands
• Gardens, parks, walls, attics (for social species)
• Bare or sandy soils (for burrowing species)
• Nectar-producing flowers (adults often floricolous)

Biology

• Varied lifestyles:
  • Social: colonies with queens, workers, males (Vespula, Polistes…)
  • Solitary: each female builds and provisions her own nest
  • Parasitoids: develop inside a host (insect larva, spider…)
• Nesting:
  • Paper nests (Vespidae)
  • Underground burrows (Eumeninae, Tiphiidae)
  • Natural or plant cavities

Distinctive Features

• Often pronounced constriction between thorax and abdomen (wasp waist)
• Defensive sting in many species
• Great morphological and behavioral diversity
• Essential ecological role in arthropod population regulation

Notable Genera

• Vespula, Polistes, Dolichovespula – Social wasps
• Eumenes, Ancistrocerus – Solitary potter wasps
• Mutilla, Dasylabris – Velvet-looking parasitic wasps
• Tiphia, Scolia, Priocnemis, Pompilus – Specialized parasitoids or predators

Vespoidea (Wasps and Ants)

This group includes social and solitary wasps, as well as ants.

• Vespidae: social and solitary wasps (e.g., hornets, common wasps)

• Mutillidae (Velvet ants): parasitic wasps of bee and other insect nests

• Formicidae (Ants): highly diverse social insects

• Bradynobaenidae

• Formicidae – commonly known as ants

• Mutillidae

• Pompilidae, easily confused with some vespids, also known as pompilid wasps

• Sapygidae

• Scoliidae

• Tiphiidae

• Vespidae – the “social” or “potter” wasp families

Bradynobaenidae – Bradynobaenids
Mutillidae – Mutillids
Pompilidae – Pompilids
Sapygidae – Sapygids
Scoliidae – Scoliids
Tiphiidae – Tiphiids
Vespidae – Vespids