Wasp family. Where do insects live
These insects form a whole family in the order Hymenoptera. In nature, there are a huge number of wasp species. All of them can be conditionally divided into two large groups: living alone and in large colonies. A person most often encounters representatives of the second group, since they mainly equip their nests under the roof of buildings or in outbuildings. The wasp is an insect that is not only interesting, but also dangerous. Why and what troubles a small predator can deliver to people, how dangerous it is, we will try to tell you in this article.
The largest ranges of the insect are in Europe, Australia, Argentina, Mexico, they live in large colonies in Canada and North Africa. They are not at all in the polar latitudes, and you will not meet them in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula. They know nothing about wasps and the inhabitants of the hot Sahara. They are not only well known to the population of our country, but often have to deal with them. Since, equipping their nests near housing, the stinging aggressor poses a certain threat to human health.
Species, their description and habits
Scientists to this day are arguing about the classification of these amazing representatives of the fauna, unconditionally singling out public representatives and preferring to live alone.
The latter include families such as:
- Road
- german
- Floral
- scoli
- sequins
- Typhia.
Paper wasps predominate in our country. Everyone has heard about these wasps, and many even had to be even bitten by them. It is unlikely that you will be able to find someone who has not seen these insects, which have a recognizable yellow-black color. They equip their round-shaped nests in attics or walls of houses.
Paper wasp: it turns out they are very useful for the garden garden, they catch caterpillars and feed their larvae with them.
For their construction, the wasps use paper, which they themselves produce. Insects get their building material by chewing wood, gluing its fibers with saliva.
Kneading these chips in her mouth and wetting them with saliva, she makes a small lump of paper, albeit of low quality.
The structure of the paper wasp, like the rest of the representatives of this family, is quite simple in appearance and consists of three clearly visible segments:
- Head.
- Breast.
- Abdomen.
The body has an external chitinous skeleton. The head of the insect is very mobile. She has two mustaches. Each tendril performs a variety of functions, from detecting odors to judging the taste of food. Whiskers also serve to measure the length of combs in nest building.
The main difference between a wasp and a hornet is its size.
The body length of striped flying predators is on average 2 centimeters, for hornets - up to 3.5 cm. There are two pairs of membranous wings. I wonder how many eyes a wasp has. There are five of them. The two large eyes of the wasp are located on the sides of the head and consist of many facets that fit snugly together and form a pattern that looks like a honeycomb. These complex organs of vision make it possible to look in several directions at once. And although it is definitely impossible to focus them, they perfectly capture any movement. In addition, insects such as wasps have three more eyes located on the top of their heads. They, unlike the lateral ones, have one large pupil.
Wasp diet
Insect nutrition is very diverse and largely depends on the species. Nature endowed them with powerful jaws, which serve both to kill prey and to feed on plants. Since wasps are aggressive predators, they feed not only on berries, fruits, flowers, but they also prey on flies, spiders, cockroaches and other small insects.
Having caught the prey, they inject a sting with poison into it. The poison does not kill the victim immediately, but paralyzes it. So it is preserved until the predator begins her meal.
Despite the fact that the jaws of wasps are well developed, adults can only eat liquid food. It can be vegetable juice or flower nectar. Wasp larvae also eat solid food, everything that worker wasps bring to the nest. But first, this food goes to the nurses responsible for the state of food, and only after processing the food becomes available to young offspring.
Insect nutrition is very diverse and depends on the type of insect.
The larvae are always in their personal cells until they become pupae, with the subsequent transformation into adults. When they want to eat, they begin to scratch against the walls of their house. Working individuals instantly respond to this call and bring lumps of ready-made food to the larvae.
The wasp larva is a predator that feeds on animal food, and adult insects can make do with the nectar of flowers.
Characteristic features of wasps
Insects defend themselves in two ways. The bright color is a passive defense, it is designed to scare away birds and other enemies. But they can stand up for themselves and use an active method - using a sting to protect. It does not have notches, like a bee, after injecting poison, it is removed from the body of the enemy and is again ready for use. Having stung once, they are able to repeat it many times.
The wasp has five eyes: two large faceted ones located on the sides of the head and providing wide angle vision, and three eyes on the forehead.
Insects fly fast enough, but not fast enough to avoid being attacked by their enemies. Therefore, often striped predators themselves become victims of birds or dragonflies.
Many wield their jaws, attacking insects or defending themselves, their main means of defense is the sting.
Familiar to us flower and paper members of the Hymenoptera family are well recognizable by the presence of contrasting black and yellow stripes on the body. The woody forest variety has the same color. But in some species, the color is different and not necessarily in the form of stripes. In any case, it serves as a warning to other predators about the aggressiveness of its owner. It is noteworthy that most wasps do not have body hair, unlike bumblebees and bees. They are not flower pollinators and do not need hairs.
They are distinguished by their low weight, but the dimensions of the torso different types can be strikingly different. From standard 2 cm for paper wasps to 5 cm for. There are real giants of the insect world among them, for example, the giant scoli that lives in East Asia can reach up to 6 centimeters in length.
Habitat
Most species prefer to settle not far from a person or directly in his dwelling. Living next to people is beneficial for them, they always find food here and therefore tend to build their nest in the garden, on the porch or under the roof. From there, it is easier for them to raid jams or other sweets left in the open by the owners of the house.
The nest itself is built from pieces of young tree bark, carefully chewed and sealed with saliva.
For paper wasps, the choice of habitat is associated with the presence of trees from the fibers from which they build their nests. Some species use small pebbles or dirt particles when arranging a colony. They settle where there is this material. For example, the golden-winged potter wasp that lives in Brazil builds nests in places with clay, which is used in construction.
There are species that burrow into the ground or bite through the stems of plants to find shelter there.
There are also such representatives who make themselves a refuge in plants or in the earth. Some choose to live in any gaps and even work gloves or cardboard boxes thrown by a person can become housing for them.
Home Improvement
In social insects, the uterus is the first to deal with housing arrangements. She creates a small dwelling, large enough to lay her eggs. Over time, the nest of insects grows tier by tier. The uterus works until the working individuals grow up, which will continue to build. The more worker wasps in the nest, the larger its size.
The uterus is considered the main one in the wasp family.
The uterus at this time is engaged in the main business of her life - laying eggs. At the same time, she keeps order in the colony, urging the negligent with bites. In the summer, working individuals develop from the eggs laid, closer to autumn - females and males. Growing up, they leave their native nest. Males die after mating, and females hide for the winter in secluded places and fall into a stupor. When warm days come, they get out of their hiding places and begin to build new colonies.
1. Wasps are arthropod insects from the Hymenoptera order, which, in addition to them, also includes numerous bees, ants, bumblebees, riders and sawflies.
There are different types of wasps, they belong to different families.
2. Types of wasps: paper wasps, road wasps, real wasps, glitter wasps, German wasps, sand (burrowing) wasps, burrowing wasps (sfecida), scoli, typhia, flower wasps, hornets.
3. Wasps are widespread in Russia, Europe, North Africa and Australia, Mexico and Argentina, Canada.
4. Wasps are not found only on the Arabian Peninsula, in the harsh Arctic and in the sultry Sahara.
5. Wasps, like bees, have a serrated sting. But the wasp's stinger has smaller barbs. In addition, there is no knot at the tip of the wasp's stinger. Unlike a bee, after a wasp sting, it does not leave its sting in the victim and does not die, but can sting several more times.
paper wasp
6. Paper wasps - well-known insects in black and yellow stripes. Their round nests can often be seen on the walls of houses, in attics. And the wasps build a nest interesting way: for its construction, wasps use paper, which they themselves produce from wood fibers, chewing and gluing its fibers with saliva.
7. According to research conducted by American scientists, paper wasps are able to distinguish the faces of their relatives. Interestingly, this ability is developed only in social species wasps who have a strict hierarchy in their families. According to scientists, wasps that live alone or more simple families are unable to do so.
8. It is impossible to say unequivocally whether wasps are harmful or beneficial insects. A wasp sting is very painful and can cause anaphylactic shock. Unlike bees, wasps are not honey-bearing. In addition, wasps often destroy beneficial bees and bumblebees. At the same time, wasps also destroy harmful insects: pest caterpillars, flies.
9. The body of the wasp is divided into three distinct segments - the head, chest and abdomen, and has a strong external chitinous skeleton. The head of the wasp is very mobile and is crowned with two antennae that perform many functions: they capture odors and vibrations in the air, with the help of which the insect can evaluate the taste of liquid food and measure the length of the honeycomb in the nest.
10. The flight speed of the wasp is quite high, but, however, is not a record for insects in general. That is why even well-armed striped predators often become victims themselves - for example, large predatory flies and dragonflies.
flower wasp
11. Flower wasps are small insects whose body length rarely exceeds 1 cm. As the name suggests, flower wasps eat pollen and nectar from flowers. Flower wasps make nests in the ground or on tree branches; clay particles and sand, held together by saliva, are usually used as building materials.
12. Among the wasps, there are both solitary and collectively living species.
13. Wasps belong to the suborder of stalked hymenoptera. Just a glance at the structure of the wasp makes it possible to understand why the suborder received such an unusual name: between the chest and abdomen of this insect there is a narrow “waist”, resembling a long thin stalk in some wasps.
14. Thanks to this feature, wasps can almost double their body without much difficulty and sting their prey from almost any angle - this allows them to win fights with other, sometimes even larger insects.
15. The anatomical features of wasps allow them to fight and defeat even those insects that are larger than them.
german wasp
16. German wasps are interesting for the visible differences between males and females. Male wasps are usually larger, and females do not have wings. Outwardly, the female fluffy wasps look like ants, so they are sometimes called velvet ants.
17. The wasp has five eyes: two large compound eyes located on the sides of the head and providing a wide angle of vision, and three small eyes on the forehead.
18. Researchers say that the wasp becomes most dangerous on days when there is a lot of food around, primarily sweet fruits. In addition, wasps are much more aggressive in the heat. In July and August days, not only the "spite" of wasps increases, but also their numbers. These days you should be careful not to get stung.
19. Wasp venom is complex chemical composition and is a powerful allergen. At the same time, in different representatives of the families, the ratio of the components of the poison is strictly individual, and therefore the consequences of their bites differ. Thus, it cannot be said that all wasps sting in the same way.
20. Wasp venom is a dangerous mixture of a large number various substances: one of them, for example, causes severe irritation of nerve endings, another leads to cell destruction, the third is responsible for the development of an allergic reaction, etc.
burrowing wasp
21. Burrowing wasps (sfecidy) nest in sandy soil, some species build stucco nests and attach them to the walls of houses.
22. Burrowing wasps got their name because of the ability to dig passages in the ground.
23. The sting of a wasp is a modified ovipositor, it is located at the end of the abdomen and it is through it that the insect secretes poison.
24. Unlike bees, when threatened from the outside, wasps use not only stings, but also jaws.
25. A wasp sting is very painful and in some cases dangerous. In a person with allergies, it can be fatal.
wasp scolia
26. Scoli - covered with hairs, large or medium size wasps from 1 to 10 cm long. Very beautiful, more like butterflies than wasps.
27. The head of the wasp also has antennae that perform several functions. In addition to smell and touch, these "antennas" recognize air vibrations and act as taste buds, and when building a nest, the wasp measures the size of the cells with its antennae.
28. The oral apparatus of the wasp is designed to grind particles of plant matter that goes to the insect as food, or to build a nest.
29. The wasp has 4 membranous wings, although some species lack wings. The abdomen of the wasp is fusiform or barrel-shaped and covered with hairs.
30. On the sides of the wasp's head are two large and complex eyes, allowing the insect to see simultaneously in different directions.
wasp
32. In social wasps, the uterus lays eggs, which is fertilized by the male only once. In the spring, the wasp queen chooses a place, builds a nest and lays her eggs in special cells. At one time, the queen can lay more than 2,000 eggs, from which the larvae of worker wasps will hatch. These larvae then transform into pupae, pupae into adult insects. Throughout the cycle, worker wasps take care of the offspring, and the uterus is busy laying new eggs.
33. Wasps leading a solitary lifestyle are called solitary wasps. Most wasps belong to this group. The nests in which their larvae develop are very diverse and are minks in the ground, depressions in wood, clay buildings in attics, etc.
34. Females of some species of solitary wasps build a kind of "communal nests" together. They are similar to the nests of social (paper wasps), but each female in such a nest lays her eggs in her own "apartment".
35. Single wasps have a sting, but often kill their victims with a bite of powerful jaws. They carry the prey to the nest and, laying an egg on it, seal the cell.
Wasp Typhia
37. The nutrition of wasps is very diverse and depends on the type of insect. Herbivorous wasps feed on flower pollen and nectar, fruit juice, aphid secretions.
38. Predatory wasps do not disdain to eat other insects (spiders, beetles, flies, cockroaches, praying mantises), feeding on them themselves and feeding their offspring.
39. Wasps catch their prey and then inject a poisonous sting into it. The poison paralyzes the insect but does not kill it. Thus, the meat of prey is preserved in fresh until the wasp starts eating it.
40. In single wasps, reproduction occurs as a result of mating. Single female wasps build nests in which they lay eggs, and store for food for future larvae of small insects and spiders paralyzed by poison. After that, the wasp seals the nest, and the larva develops on its own, eating insects. At the end of the term, the wasps get out of the nest and go looking for a new place to live.
Hornet
41. The hornet is the largest of the social wasps, its dimensions reach 55 mm in length.
42. The main difference between a hornet and an ordinary wasp is its large size. If paper wasps are only 2-3 cm long, then for European hornets this figure reaches 3-3.5 cm. In addition, hornets have a wider nape (this is clearly visible under a magnifying glass) and characteristic dark red spots on the head there , where paper wasps have black patches. A hornet differs from a wasp in a more peaceful disposition - it bites a person much less often.
43. Large hornet wasps, attacking the victim, use not only a sting. Strong jaws allow them to crush the chitinous covers of cockroaches and even praying mantises.
Vespiary
44. The lifestyles of solitary and social wasps are quite different. So, for example, harvesting paralyzed prey is the only thing that an adult single wasp can “offer” to its larva. At this point, she stops caring for her offspring (only in some species, the female can visit the minks from time to time and bring additional food into them).
45. In public wasps, everything is much more complicated. Their founding queen hibernates in a safe shelter (in a hollow, under a stone or under bark), and in the spring begins to build a nest and lay the first eggs in it.
sand wasp
46. Road and sand wasps dig minks in the ground instead of building a nest. The food for the hatched larvae are insects and spiders paralyzed by sting pricks.
47. Hornets inject more poison into the wound than wasps, which is partly why their bites are more allergenic and painful.
48. It should be remembered that wasps are attracted to bright colors and sweet smells. This is how they find flowers and fruits. Many people forget that insects smell artificial fragrances in the same way, and bright synthetic smells attract them even more than natural ones. Therefore, a bright or dark outfit, thick makeup and perfume increase the chance of being stung.
49. Wasp poison is much more dangerous than many people are used to thinking. The fact is that an allergy to this substance is not so uncommon. And with each bite, the reaction usually intensifies. Therefore, if a person stung by a wasp feels a general malaise, it is difficult for him to breathe, the temperature rises, or some other negative reactions appear, in addition to the usual itching and burning at the site of the bite, you should immediately consult a doctor.
50. Immediately after a bite, you need to take an anti-allergy pill. People suffering from this disease need to constantly carry such drugs with them when the activity of bees and wasps is especially high. Even if there are no such reactions, you should try to suck the poison out of the wound, apply a clean cloth soaked in a soda solution to the affected area.
At the mention of wasps, an association arises with an annoying insect that has a striped black and yellow belly. In fact, there are a huge number of types. Representatives of families differ in size, body structure, and reproduction features. All types of wasps are united by a love for sweet fruit juice, nectar and fermented drinks. Female insects actively take care of their offspring, devoting the main part of their lives to this.
body structure
A characteristic feature of insects belonging to the stalked-bellied suborder is the presence of a narrow stalk between the breast and abdomen. Wasps have two pairs of membranous wings, and the body consists of a head, thorax, and abdomen. Distinctive feature stinging insects - a transformed ovipositor. It is turned into a smooth sting associated with venom glands. Wasps use venom as a defense against enemies, and also paralyze caterpillars and spiders caught to feed the larvae.
Compound eyes are located on the sides of the head. The antennae of insects serve as organs of smell and touch. The jaws are developed, they serve for tearing insects, nibbling bark from branches. Hymenoptera have two pairs of wings that function as one in flight. In representatives of the Folded-winged family, the wings fold longitudinally and in half. The legs consist of five segments, there are movable spurs. The abdomen consists of several segments, the presence of a stalk makes it mobile.
Interesting. There are wingless and short-winged forms of wasps.
Individuals of different sexes differ in size, structure of legs, wings and other organs. The division of duties among most social wasps is poorly expressed. Their uterus is larger. The larvae lead a sedentary lifestyle, require meat food and care.
Wasp classification
- Social wasps are families with one queen, living in a colony and taking care of their offspring together.
- Solitary wasps - representatives of this group build simple nests, each female lays eggs and raises offspring.
Family of public or paper wasps
Vespins
This is the most developed family of wasps, it is characterized by complex behavior and dwelling architecture. Vespinas live in colonies with one queen. She is engaged in laying eggs, and workers hunt and protect the nest. The future queen is engaged in the foundation of the colony. In April, she begins building a nest with the first combs. The female lays eggs and feeds the carnivorous larvae. Working individuals appear by June. With their help, the construction of the house goes faster, new tiers appear. These insects build large paper nests from chewed bark and saliva. The functions of the uterus are limited to laying eggs.
By autumn, females appear capable of producing offspring. They mate with males and stay over the winter in shelters. The old queen dies, new families and new queens appear in the spring.
Interesting fact. Hornets belong to the genus Vespa, they are the largest representatives of paper wasps. The common hornet has dimensions of 20-35 mm, and the Asian species exceeds 50 mm. An insect bite causes a strong pain and allergic reaction.
Polistiny
An extensive and diverse family of polystins includes more than 800 species. One of the most studied representatives of paper wasps are leaves. Primitive insects build open honeycombs by hanging them from grass and branches. From 10 to 100 individuals live in such a nest. In some groups of insects, a colony is founded by a single queen, in others, polygyny is noted - the foundation of a family by several queens.
Polistiny feed on ripe fruits, aphid secretions, nectar. Their larvae receive partially fermented parts of killed insects.
solitary wasps
road wasps
The pompilid family includes over 5000 species, among them there are medium and large individuals 15-40 mm in size. A wide distribution area covers all corners of the world, 200 species live in Russia. Most representatives of the family dig minks in the ground, where they leave an egg and a paralyzed spider.
The color of insects is a black body with red or yellow spots. The limbs are thin and long, armed with digging ridges. Pompilid prey on spiders, their prey is paralyzed with a well-aimed sting.
german
These furry wasps are called velvet ants. Wingless females outwardly resemble these insects. Body length 5-30 mm, southern steppe regions are chosen for habitation. In insects, sexual dimorphism is very noticeable. The bodies of males and females differ in structure and size, males are larger. Insects are covered with black and light hairs; they form a pattern on the abdomen. Males are brown or black, females are brightly colored, often in red.
scoli
The size of the insect depends on the species, there are giant individuals up to 100 mm, while the average size of scoli is 10-25 mm. Insects are black, yellow and yellow are noticeable on the abdomen. orange spots. Their wings are reddish in color. The female is noticeably larger than the male. Scolia raise their offspring on the larvae of beetles and rhinoceros beetles. These insects are malicious pests. cultivated plants. The female stings the larva in the nerve center and paralyzes, then lays an egg.
Information. On cane plantations, scolia are specially bred to help destroy the rhinoceros beetle.
Typhia
Sand or burrowing wasps
Members of this group prefer to lay their eggs in the ground. The sand wasp order includes 200 genera. All of them prey on smaller insects that feed offspring. Some have food specialization - aphids, spiders. The sizes of individuals are from 5 to 20 mm, the antennae are shorter than other wasps. Life expectancy 1-1.5 months.
An unusual fact. Sexual dimorphism in burrowing wasps manifests itself differently. Their male is larger than the female. Most members of the subfamily have a typical black and yellow coloration, but there are black species with red and brown spots.
Ammophila is a typical representative of her family. Its body size is 11-25 mm, the largest individual is 38 mm. Distinctive feature group strongly compressed and elongated first abdominal segment. The slender wasp is distinguished by the red color of the base of the abdomen, the rest of it is black with a blue tint. Prey on butterflies, caterpillars and other insects. Paralyzed prey is laid in minks dug from the sand. She will serve as food for the offspring.
Sfecidy are large single wasps 30-60 mm long. They settle in sandy soil, prefer the southern regions.
Variety of Russian wasps
In Russia, there are representatives of single and social wasps. 8 species of hornets belonging to the genus Vespa have spread throughout the country. The common hornet lives in the European part, Siberia, Transbaikalia, Primorye. The size of the female is up to 35 mm, working specimens are 2-24 mm. In the Amur Region and Primorye, you can meet the Black Hornet and the largest representatives of this species. Among them is Vespa mandarinia. Females of this species have a body length of 43-55 mm, males 30-40 mm. Adults feed on fruit juice, larvae feed on meat food.
Among social wasps, there are species that build nests in the ground (Austrian, German and red) and on branches (forest, Norwegian, Saxon). Representatives of the genus Polist, building their nests without an outer shell, have been noted in the south of the European part, in Siberia, Altai and Buryatia.
The belly, painted in a threatening black and yellow stripe, a characteristic buzzing and, of course, a very painful bite - this is what most people associate the word wasp with.
These insects are known for their aggressiveness, bordering on real vindictiveness - if you accidentally brush off a wasp with your hand, a bite will immediately follow, followed by another one ... In wasps, unlike bees, the sting does not have notches and does not break off when it is introduced into the body of an animal or person. Therefore, the wasp can bite as many times as it pleases. And if you take into account the love of wasps for ripening fruits and food smells, the risk of being stung increases several times - a striped insect may well lie in wait for you in the garden or nearby. summer gazebo where you drink tea in summer.
general description
Vespula or wasps are inhabitants of the Northern Hemisphere from the Hymenoptera family. Two species of European wasps, German and common, were introduced to North America. Common wasps also made their way to Australia and New Zealand, where until now they successfully compete for food resources with local insects and birds.
All wasps have a small, neat head, a convex chest and an elongated abdomen. In females, a sharp sting is placed at the end of the abdomen, connected by channels with poisonous glands. The color of the abdomen is most often striped. However, the alternation of black and yellow stripes is not found in all species. There are insects painted in turquoise, black and purple colors.
The main feature of all wasps is the presence of a "waist". A narrow bridge between the thoracic region and the abdomen. This structure allows the predator to bend the body at any angle and bite its prey without any problems.
The size of a female wasp reaches an average of 1.8 centimeters. Working individuals are 1.2 centimeters long. The owner of an impressive size is the scoli from East Asia. Her body size is 6 centimeters. And hornets, also belonging to the wasp class, grow up to 5 centimeters.
Powerful jaws testify to belonging to predators. With them, wasps are able not only to feed on fairly soft ripe fruits or pollen, but also to kill larger insects. The jaw apparatus of the wasp easily crushes someone else's chitinous cover.
They have wasps and good eyesight. They have five eyes. Two main, large, faceted. And three additional, located on the sides and at the top of the head.
The main weapon of the insect is the sting. Wasp venom can cause severe tissue swelling at the site of the bite and even anaphylactic shock in humans. But even without an allergic reaction, there is nothing pleasant in a wasp sting - it is very painful. Plus, a wasp that has been somewhere on garbage can bring a dangerous infection.
Due to the danger of poison, it is not recommended to engage in destruction wasp nests on one's own. It is better to seek help from sanitary or pest control services. To destroy the nest and destroy the colony, you will need special protective clothing and devices! Moreover, the nests of social wasps are protected by females, which have formidable stings.
The most powerful bite in terms of pain is able to “bestow”. And the most dangerous poison in Japanese hornets. Their bite can cause hemorrhage and Quincke's edema in humans. The bite is relatively safe for humans - its poison is less allergenic, aimed at paralyzing the victim from the world of insects, and not her death.
Wasps are characterized by complete metamorphosis in development - the larva looks more like a fat worm than an elegant insect. But it is she who is a 100% predator. Adult individuals feed the larvae with protein food - other insects and their larvae, pieces of rotten meat or fish, while they themselves often feed on pollen and nectar.
Bright representatives of wasps
The wasps of this family are very interesting to study. On the territory of the Russian Federation, they live in many regions and, with their life cycle, one can say, they help to fight against harmful beetle larvae.
In the world of insects, things often happen that can act as plots for horror films. Today's story is about the master of subjugating the will of others - the deadly emerald wasp
There are several main species of the family of real wasps that differ in social behavior, appearance, the way nests are built.
The article will discuss the family of wasps-scoli. What are the features of their nutrition, reproduction and habitat. Is it necessary to be afraid of them and what is the use of them for a person?
Shiny wasps are very beautiful wasps that were named after their shiny “clothes”. The way of life and reproduction of these insects is very interesting.
Sand wasps, flower wasps, typhia wasps and German wasps: main differences, habitat, feeding and breeding features.
Many people are afraid of hornets. But in vain! This big wasp never strikes first and is also very useful.
Philant, wasp larra, ammophyla - all these are representatives of a large group of burrowing wasps. The article tells about the species features characteristic of this group of wasps, about the benefits and harms of these insects.
As soon as warm weather sets in, they increasingly declare themselves - paper wasps, small striped insects, whose bite is so afraid of children and adults. How to behave to avoid a wasp sting? First aid for a bite.
Road wasps (pompilides) are wasps that lead a solitary lifestyle and feed mainly on spiders. Pompilid reproduce by laying eggs in earthen or sandy minks, clay nests, in tree trunks and plant stems.
Classification
Wasps are divided into two types - social and solitary.
Public
Social species live in nests and jointly take care of their offspring. Females hibernate in crevices 
bark or under rocks. In the spring, they start building nests and laying eggs.
The young that have appeared completely take care of the nest, and the uterus in the future is exclusively engaged in oviposition. The nest is built from chewed tree bark mixed with saliva. This substance resembles paper. - the largest insects of this class, during construction they are able to leave small trees without bark. Sterile females emerge from the eggs of social species in summer. And only in autumn the uterus lays eggs, from which a heterosexual brood is obtained. Fertilized young females go into wintering, and the old nest with all the inhabitants dies.
What insects often attack deciduous trees? You can find the answer to this question in the link.
Singles
Predatory single species of wasps help a person cope with pests of agricultural crops. Some of them, on the contrary, cause harm by destroying bees in apiaries.
Wasps in many ways wonderful insects:
- capable of capturing a large cockroach. Having inflicted a bite, the female seems to paralyze the will of the victim - the beetle without resistance follows the wasp, which holds it with its mandibles by the mustache.
- Larvae of social species are real clean! All waste products accumulate in their body until the very moment of departure from the nest. Having emptied, young individuals take off. After that, the worker wasps carefully clean the nest of excrement.
- Not all wasps have wings. For example, they do not have. These insects are more like ants. However, the sting of the females is just as dangerous as that of the flying species.
- Common wasps build the largest colonies in the world. Their nest can contain up to 15,000 cells and more than 5,000 worker wasps.
- Most big nest belongs to German wasps. It was discovered in New Zealand. Its circumference was 1.75 meters.
I recently observed vespiary, it became interesting, I decided to figure out what kind of insects, in the end it turned out very interesting.
Basic information
Let's start with a paradox, wasps are the name of some insects from the suborder Apocrita of the order Hymenoptera, which does not have a strictly scientific definition. In principle, these are all stinging stalked bellies that are not related to bees and ants.
At present, there are many various kinds wasps, but all of them, one way or another, belong to one of two main categories: solitary and social wasps.
The following families of wasps belong to the solitary living:
1) burrowing;
2) sand;
3) floral;
4) road;
5) German wasps;
6) glitter wasps;
7) scoli;
7) typhia.
The group of social insects includes the family Real wasps (however, this also includes some types of sand wasps).
An excellent example of insects living in a family are, first of all, paper wasps - it is with them that summer residents of our country most often face. In addition, hornets, also belonging to the family of Real wasps, are well-known social insects.
Each wasp is endowed by nature with powerful jaws - mandibles. They serve both to feed on plant foods - soft fruits, berries, flowers - and to kill prey. For example, most hornets, attacking even such large insects as cockroaches and praying mantises, practically do not use a sting, but completely manage only with strong jaws, which successfully crush the chitinous covers of their victims.
The sizes of wasps vary widely. For example, the giant scoli South-East Asia grows up to 6 cm in length; the Asian giant hornet is not far behind it - about 5-5.5 cm. But the vast majority of representatives still have more standard sizes for insects. In this case, usually (but, nevertheless, not always) the size of the body corresponds to the degree of danger of the insect.
Nutrition
A unique feature of wasps is the nature of their diet, which is largely determined by the specifics of the life cycle. In their development, these insects undergo the so-called complete metamorphosis: the larva has a thick worm-like body and does not at all look like an elegant, fast adult insect, either in appearance or in its "gastronomic preferences".
The wasp larva is a predator that feeds only on animal food, while adult insects mostly manage with flower nectar, sweet juicy berries and fruits. In some cases, the attitude to food even goes to extremes: for example, in philanthropists, also called bee wolves, the larva is physically unable to digest carbohydrates.
For their larvae, wasps get the most diverse protein food, always choosing the most tasty pieces in their opinion. In social wasps, adults catch other insects or bite off pieces of meat from carrion or perishing fish, then chew this food themselves, mix it with their digestive enzymes, and only then feed the offspring with the resulting mixture.
If we talk about single wasps, then their feeding algorithm is completely different and bears little resemblance to that of public relatives. Female solitary wasps, as a rule, catch arthropods, paralyze them with their poison, hide them in a mink, and then lay eggs in their victims. The live "canned food" obtained in this way will serve as a source of food for the larvae developing from the eggs for a long time.
Interestingly, the victim with eggs laid in it usually lives until the pupation of its tormentor. The larva eats it, starting with those organs, the loss of which will not lead to quick death, and therefore, although paralyzed prey may lose most of the body, it will still remain alive.
The spectrum of potential victims is very wide. However, some species of wasps are highly specialized and prey, for example, only on spiders or bedbugs (at the same time, they can also attack very large tarantulas).
But hornets, for example, eat literally everything that consists of meat. Scientists have found among their victims a variety of insects, slugs, worms, centipedes, even lizards and rodents. However, as entomologists suggest, the hornets do not attack the same mice, but only feed on the remnants of the table of wild cats at a convenient opportunity.
The lifestyles of solitary and social wasps are quite different. So, for example, harvesting paralyzed prey is the only thing that an adult single wasp can “offer” to its larva. At this point, she stops caring for her offspring (only in some species, the female can visit the minks from time to time and bring additional food into them).
With social wasps, things are much more complicated. Their founding queen hibernates in a safe shelter (in a hollow, under a stone or under bark), and in the spring begins to build a nest and lay the first eggs in it.
The young insects hatching from these eggs take upon themselves all further cares for building a nest and obtaining food, and the task of the uterus is then reduced only to expanding the family.
The nest itself is built by social wasps from pieces of young tree bark, carefully chewed and sealed with saliva. The output is a kind of paper, which serves as the only one for these insects. building material. If we are talking about large enough nests of hornets, in this case, winged builders can completely peel off the bark from the young branches of individual trees.
All insects in the nest are sterile females. Only at the end of summer, the uterus begins to lay eggs, from which females and males capable of procreation emerge. These young individuals swarm, mate with each other, and then leave the parental nest forever.
Fertilized females soon find shelter for the winter, as their uterus did in her time, and the males die. At the end of the season, all working individuals die, along with the old founding female.
This general information about os. If interested, I can write a sequel about some unique species such as bee wolf, burrowing wasp, leaf cutter wasp, etc. and comment)
