This presentation consists of some important families of order Hymenoptera along with their important identifying characteristics and their importance in agriculture as pest as well as parasitoid.

1. PRESENTED BY:
Sandeep Kumar Sathua
M.Sc. (Ag) final Year
Dept. of Entomology & Agricultural Zoology
BHU, Varanasi, Uttarprades

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The name Hymenoptera is derived from the Greek words
"hymen" meaning membrane and "ptera" meaning wings.
It is also a reference to Hymeno, the Greek god of
marriage.
The name is appropriate not only for the membranous
nature of the wings, but also for the manner in which
they are "joined together as one" by the hamuli.
Over 115,000 species present worldwide
It is the order of Ants / Wasps / Bees / Sawflies / Horntails.
HYMENOPTERA

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COMMON CHARACTERISTICS OF THE ORDER
HYMENOPTERA
Head- Hypognathous, extremely mobile & free
Mouthparts- Larvae – Chewing type
Adult– Chewing & lapping type(e.g. bees).
Compound eyes that are usually large (although many are
blind e.g. ants and fig wasps).
The females generally have an ovipositor which may be
modified for sawing, piercing or stinging.
Complete metamorphosis
COMPOUND EYE
HYPOGNATHOUS
HEAD
CHEWING & LAPPING
TYPE MOUTHPART

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Two pairs of membranous thin wings. The forewings and
hindwings are held together by small hooks (Hamulli).
The hindwings < forewings and the wing venation (vein
arrangement) is often much reduced. However, in many
species the wings are not present or are present only
during mating flights (e.g. ants).
Larva are eruciform & grub is apodous
Antenae – Filliform, geniculate, clavate etc with 4-70
segments
GENICULATE
ANTENAE
GRUB

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Hymenoptera devided into 2 suborders
Symphyta & Apocrita
Suborder SYMPHYTA have a broad junction between
thorax and abdomen (sawflies and horntails)
<10% of species
Suborder APOCRITA have a narrow junction between
the thorax and abdomen.
Division Parasitica (parasitoids),
>70% of species
Division Aculeata (stinging wasps, ants, & bees)
~20% spp.
Taxonomy & Diversity

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HYMENOPTERA
SYMPHYTA
TENTHREDINOIDEA
XYELOIDEA
MEGALODONTOIDEA
SIRICOIDEA
ORUSSOIDEA
CEPHOIDEA
APOCRITA
ACULEATA
APOIDEA
VESPOIDEA
CHRYSIDOIDEA
PARASITICA
ICHNEUMONOIDEA
CEREPHRONOIDEA
PROCTOTRUPOIDEA
STEPHANOIDEA
EVANIOIDEA
MEGALYROIDEA
TRIGONALOIDEA
CHALCIDOIDEA
CYNIPOIDEA
Phylogeny of Order Hymenoptera
ORDER
SUBORDER
SUBORDER
DIVISION
DIVISION
SUPER
FAMILY

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W
I
N
G
S
Symphyta: All have two
pair of membranous (clear)
wings as adults with most
displaying a fairly "basic" set
of cells and veins, i.e. simple
venation
Apocrita: 2 pair or one sex
apterous, venation often reduced,
membrane may be patterned, fore-
& hind wings attached with
hammuli.
Difference Between SYMPHYTA & APOCRITA

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LARVAE
Symphyta: caterpillar-like,
one pair stemmata, 3 pair of
thoracic & 6-8 pair
abdominal legs; free-living.
Apocrita: grub-like
maggots, apodous or
eucephalous; live in
protected nest cells.

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Abdomen broadly
jointed to thorax
Stemmata Present
Fore tibia with 2 spurs
Pre pupa absent
Mostly polyphagous in
nature
Ovipositor well
developed & modified
for piercing plant tissue
e.g.- Saw fly
Other Differences
Abdomen attached to thorax
by narrow ‘Petiole’
Stemmata absent
Tibial spurs absent
Pre pupa present
Mostly parasitic on other
insects
Ovipositor modified for
parasitizing or stinging
other insects
e.g.- Bee, Wasp, Ants

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Suborder- Symphyta
Family-Tenthredinidae (Saw Fly)
Bright colored stout adult
Antennae non segmented
Ovipositor is blade or saw like
Larvae eruciform devoid of crochets
e.g- Mustard Saw Fly (Athalia lugens proxima)
IMPORTANT FAMILIES OF HYMENOPTERA

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Suborder- Symphyta
Family-Siricidae (Horntails)
 Pale brown legs and the rest metallic blue-black
 Ovipositor is stiff and straight as a needle,
polished black, with slight notches
 It pierces the bark of trees to lay eggs & Larvae
are wood borers.
 e.g- Sirex Woodwasp ( Sirex noctilio )

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Division- Aculeta
Family- Apidae (True bee)
Head & body with plumose hair
Hind legs are foragial
Fore tibia with spurs
Ovipositor modified to sting
Social insects , generally act as pollinator
e.g.- Apis melifera, A. indica etc.
Egg – The queen bee lays the eggs.
Larva – The worker bees care for the larvae, feeding and cleaning them.
Pupa – After molting several times, the larvae will cocoon inside the cells of the
hive.
Adult – Male adults are always drones; females may be workers or queens.
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Sting

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Division- Aculeta
Family- Vespidae (Social Wasps)
 Red or yellow body with black markings
 Long slender petiole
 Antennae in female 12 & in male 13 segmented
 Trochanter undivided & no trochantellus
 Abdomen is modified into terminal ovipositor or sting
 3 marginal cells in fore wing & hind wing without anal
lobe
Potter WaspHornetsYellowJacket
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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They prey on caterpillars and spiders. Adults provision
nest sites with prey that they catch and paralyze by
stinging.
 Lateral margin of pronotum forms a distinct lobe that
does not touch the tegula
SUBORDER- APOCRITA
Division- Aculeta
Family- Sphicidae (Sand Wasps, Digger Wasps )

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Division- Parasitica
Family- Ichneumonidae (Ichneumonid wasp)
 Forewings lack a costal cell
 16 or more segments in the antennae
 2 segmented trochanters & tarsus 4 segmented
 Females with a long, slender ovipositor
 Filliform antennae with more than 16 segmented
 Most adults are parasitic
 e.g- Giant ichneumon wasp (Megarhyssa macrurus)
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Division- Parasitica
Family- Braconidae (Braconid wasp)
 Minute small sized insects, most of them
parasitoids of lepidopteron larvae
 Ovipositor is long & well developed
 Cross vein 2m- Cu is absent in fore wing
 Pupation inside cocoon, inside/outside body of host
 e.g- Bracon hebetor & Bracon brevicornis
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Division- Parasitica
Family- Trichogrammatidae (Trichogramma sps.)
 Minute insects with 3 segmented tarsi
 Fore wings broad with rows of microscopic hairs
 They are not strong fliers
 All are egg parasitoid on mostly Lepidopteran insects
e.g- Trichogamma chilonis, T. japonicum
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Family- Formicidae (Ants)
 Eusocial, with perennial colonies
 Wingless worker caste
 Females with prognathous heads
 Antennae elbowed or geniculate
 Abdominal segment II differentiated, forming a petiole
 Mating performed in mass nuptial flights. Wings of alate
queens shed after mating
 Forewings always lacking cross-veins 3rs-m and 2m-cu
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Division- Parasitica
Family- Cynipidae (Gall Wasps)
GALLS ON
LEAF
ADULT
WASP
LARVA
GALLS ON
FRUITS
SUBORDER- APOCRITA
- Larvae are
herbivores.
- They
induce the
formation
of plant
galls on
fruit &
leaves and
live in or on
these
tissues.
GALLS ON
LEAF

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Family- Eulopidae (Pupal Parasitoids)
 They are minute pupal parasites
 Fore wing narrower with pubascence on wing lamina
 Hairs are not arranged in rows
 Ovipositor present allmost at the tip of the abdomen
 e.g- Tetrasticus israelli used for control of Coconut black
headed caterpillar
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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Family- Evaniidae (Ensign Wasp)
 Petiole is long and abrupt
 Gaster is short, compressed and attached to
propodium by slender petiole
 They are parastic on the ootheca of cockroaches
 e.g- Evania appendigaster
SUBORDER- APOCRITA

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POMPILIDAE: (Spider Wasps)
They prey on spiders

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Trichogammatidae

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“The little things that run the world.”
--E. O. Wilson
FOR NATURAL WORLD
Special ecosystem functions:
• Resource cycling, especially ants
• Population control, parasitoids, predators
• Pollination (plant reproduction), bees,
Wasps and others
IMPORTANCE OF THE ORDER

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FOR ANTHROPOPHILIC WORLD
Beneficials
• Bioloical Control: horticultural & agricultural
• Pollinators: honey bees, bumble bees, solitary
bees
• Hive Products: honey, wax, medicines & misc.
Pests
• Agriculture: phytophagous sawflies
• Structural damage: carpenter bees & ants
• Nuisance: stinging wasps, ants
• Medical: stings to allergic individuals, trauma

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 Bees, ants and wasps have chemoreceptors for taste and
smell on their antennae as well as on their mouthparts.
 Apart from the termites all the social insects are in the
Hymenoptera order.
 Recently a 100 million year old bee was found fossilized
in amber.
 Bees evolved from wasps around 130 million years ago.
 One third of the food eaten by humans comes directly or
indirectly from crops pollinated by bees.
 In Hymenoptera the females develop from fertilized
(diploid) eggs, and the males from unfertilized (haploid)
eggs. So males have no father.

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