File:Vespula_germanica_Richard_Bartz.jpg · Wikimedia Commons · See Wikimedia Commons
Also known as wasp
A wasp is any insect of the narrow-waisted suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera which is neither a bee nor an ant; this excludes the broad-waisted sawflies (Symphyta), which look somewhat like wasps, but are in a separate suborder. The wasps do not constitute a clade, a complete natural group with a single ancestor, as bees and ants are deeply nested within the wasps, having evolved from wasp ancestors. Wasps that are members of the clade Aculeata can sting their prey.
Wasps are insects with narrow waists belonging to the order Hymenoptera, distinguished from their relatives bees and ants, though bees and ants actually evolved from wasp ancestors. Many wasps can sting their prey, which helps them hunt and defend themselves.
AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.
Research
10,249 papers- Multifaceted Defenses Against Parasitoid Wasps in Diptera.ReviewAnnual review of genetics · 2025Mortimer NT, Schlenke TADOI: 10.1146/annurev-genet-032425-100252
- Emerald jewel wasps.Current biology : CB · 2026Catania KCDOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2026.02.047
- Social wasps as models to study the major evolutionary transition to superorganismality.ReviewCurrent opinion in insect science · 2018Taylor D, Bentley MA, Sumner SDOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2018.04.003
- Endogenous viruses of parasitic wasps: variations on a common theme.ReviewCurrent opinion in virology · 2017Drezen JM, Leobold M, Bézier A et al.DOI: 10.1016/j.coviro.2017.07.002
- Systematics, Biology, and Evolution of Microgastrine Parasitoid Wasps.ReviewAnnual review of entomology · 2018Whitfield JB, Austin AD, Fernandez-Triana JLDOI: 10.1146/annurev-ento-020117-043405
- "Alien" wasps and evolution of development.ReviewBioEssays : news and reviews in molecular, cellular and developmental biology · 2000Grbić MDOI: 10.1002/1521-1878(200010)22:10<920::AID-BIES7>3.0.CO;2-Q
- [Relationship between parasotoid wasps and polydnaviruses].ReviewUirusu · 1998Hayakawa YDOI: 10.2222/jsv.48.67
- Harmonising control: understanding the complex impact of pesticides on parasitoid wasps for enhanced pest management.ReviewCurrent opinion in insect science · 2024Theenoor R, Ghosh A, Venkatesan RDOI: 10.1016/j.cois.2024.101236
via PubMed
Wikidata facts
- Subclass of
- bees, wasps, and sawflies
- Image
- Vespula germanica Richard Bartz.jpg
- Said to be same as
- Apocrita
Show 6 more facts
- taxon known by this common name
- Aculeata
- Commons gallery
- Apocrita
- Commons category
- Wasps
- topic's main category
- Category:Wasps
- on focus list of Wikimedia project
- Wikipedia:Vital articles/Level/4
- opposite of
- Formicidae
via Wikidata · CC0
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