Ants, Bees & Wasps
Order Hymenoptera
642 speciesOne of the most ecologically important orders, including key pollinators and social insects. Many species exhibit complex social behavior and colony organization.
Species in this Order
Boreal Bumblebee
Bombus borealis
A medium-sized bumblebee with yellow bands on the thorax and a white-tipped abdomen. It nests underg...
Brachymeria Chalcid
Brachymeria intermedia
A stocky black chalcid wasp that is a hyperparasitoid, attacking other parasitoid wasps inside their...
Braconid Mummy Wasp
Aphidius matricariae
A small parasitoid wasp specializing in green peach aphids and other crop pest aphids. It is commerc...
Brazilian Eucalyptus Sawfly
Deuteronomus amoenus
A medium-sized pergid sawfly that attacks eucalyptus plantations in South America. Larvae are gregar...
Brazilian Pergid Sawfly
Perreyia flavipes
A medium-sized pergid sawfly with dark coloring and yellowish legs. Larvae are gregarious and feed o...
Brazilian Stingless Bee
Melipona quadrifasciata
A robust stingless bee with a dark body and four pale abdominal bands. It is the most culturally imp...
Brazilian Wanderer Spider Wasp
Pepsis fabricius
A large metallic blue-black spider wasp with bright orange wings that hunts tarantulas as food for i...
Broad-faced Sweat Bee
Lasioglossum platycephalum
A rare and distinctive European furrow bee with an unusually broad, flattened head. It nests in sand...
Broad-footed Colletes
Colletes halophilus
A rare coastal specialist plasterer bee that forages on sea aster in saltmarsh habitats. It is restr...
Bronze Furrow Bee
Halictus tumulorum
A small, dark metallic furrow bee with a subtle bronze sheen widespread across the Palearctic. It is...
Buff-tailed Bumblebee
Bombus terrestris
A large, familiar bumblebee with black fur, a yellow collar, a yellow abdominal band, and a distinct...
Buffish Mining Bee
Andrena nigroaenea
A large mining bee with a dark metallic body and buff-brown thoracic fur. It is one of the main host...
Bulldog Ant
Myrmecia gulosa
A large aggressive ant with long mandibles and excellent vision found in Australia. It can jump and ...
Bullet Ant
Paraponera clavata
Named for its extremely painful sting, rated 4+ on the Schmidt Pain Index. Indigenous Satere-Mawe pe...
Cabbage Looper Parasite
Microplitis plutellae
A small dark braconid wasp that attacks caterpillars of the diamondback moth and cabbage looper. A s...
California Harvester Ant
Pogonomyrmex californicus
A small harvester ant found in hot deserts of the American Southwest. Colonies are often founded by ...
Cape Honey Bee
Apis mellifera capensis
A unique honey bee subspecies where workers can lay diploid female eggs without mating. It is restri...
Cape Oil-collecting Bee
Rediviva neliana
A South African oil-collecting bee with extraordinarily long front legs used to extract floral oil f...
Carpenter Ant
Camponotus pennsylvanicus
The largest common ant in North America, excavating smooth galleries in dead wood for nesting. Unlik...
Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa violacea
A large, robust bee with an entirely black body showing violet-blue iridescent wings. It excavates n...
Carpenter-Mimic Ant
Camponotus chromaiodes
A large bicolored carpenter ant with a bright red thorax and black head and gaster, common in easter...
Carrion Parasitoid Wasp
Alysia manducator
A small braconid wasp that parasitizes blowfly larvae in carrion. An important part of the decomposi...
Cassava Mealybug Parasitoid
Anagyrus lopezi
A tiny encyrtid wasp credited with saving Africa's cassava crop from devastating mealybug infestatio...
Cellophane Bee
Colletes thoracicus
A spring-flying plasterer bee native to eastern North America with dense reddish-brown thoracic hair...
Cereal Leaf Miner Parasite
Dacnusa sibirica
A small dark braconid wasp used commercially to control leaf miner flies in greenhouses. It locates ...
Chestnut Gall Wasp
Dryocosmus kuriphilus
An invasive gall wasp from China that is the most damaging pest of chestnut trees worldwide. It indu...
Chilean Dolichoderine Ant
Dorymyrmex goetschi
A South American cone ant found in arid regions of Chile and Argentina. It builds small cone-shaped ...
Chocolate Mining Bee
Andrena scotica
A medium-sized bee with warm brown fur, common across the British Isles. It visits a wide range of s...
Cicada Killer Wasp
Sphecius speciosus
A large solitary wasp that provisions its burrow with paralyzed cicadas....
Citrus Leafminer Parasitoid
Cirrospilus ingenuus
A tiny ectoparasitoid wasp that attacks citrus leafminer larvae inside their leaf mines. It has been...
Citrus Mealybug Encyrtid
Leptomastix dactylopii
A solitary parasitoid wasp specific to citrus mealybugs, used globally in greenhouse biological cont...
Clarke's Mining Bee
Andrena clarkella
An early spring bee with females covered in bright orange-red fur. It is closely associated with wil...
Club-horned Sawfly
Abia sericea
A striking metallic green sawfly found across Europe. Adults visit flowers while larvae feed on hone...
Coccygomimus Wasp
Pimpla turionellae
A cosmopolitan black ichneumonid used in biological control of pine shoot moths. Females sting and p...
Cocktail Ant
Crematogaster peringueyi
A small dark ant that holds its heart-shaped gaster raised above its body like a flag. It nests in d...
Coconut Ant
Tapinoma melanocephalum
A tiny bicolored ant with a dark head and pale translucent body, also called the ghost ant. It is a ...
Colorful Ichneumon
Ichneumon sarcitorius
A medium-sized ichneumon with a black body, yellow scutellum, and orange-tipped abdomen. It is one o...
Columbine Sawfly
Pristiphora aquilegiae
A small, dark sawfly whose pale green larvae feed on the leaves of columbine plants. Larvae can caus...
Common Carder Bee
Bombus pascuorum
A fluffy ginger-brown bumblebee that builds nests on the ground surface using moss and grass. It has...
Common Eastern Bumble Bee
Bombus impatiens
A robust fuzzy bumble bee with a black body and yellow thoracic band that is widely used as a commer...
Common Furrow Bee
Halictus rubicundus
A widespread sweat bee found across the Northern Hemisphere that displays flexible social behavior. ...
Common Green Furrow Bee
Lasioglossum malachurum
A small, primitively eusocial sweat bee in which a single queen overwinters and founds a colony with...
Common Pimpline Wasp
Pimpla hypochondriaca
A stout black parasitoid wasp that attacks moth and butterfly pupae. It is one of the most frequentl...
Common Pine Sawfly
Diprion pini
One of the most important pine defoliators in European forestry. Outbreaks cause growth losses and p...
Common Ponerine
Ponera pennsylvanica
A tiny dark brown predatory ant living in soil and leaf litter across eastern North America. Colonie...
Common Potter Wasp
Eumenes fraternus
A North American potter wasp that builds small globular mud cells on plant stems and twigs. The fema...
Common Trichogramma Wasp
Trichogramma brassicae
One of the tiniest parasitoid wasps, it lays eggs inside moth eggs destroying them before hatching. ...
Common Yellow Ichneumon
Ichneumon stramentor
A bright yellow and black ichneumon wasp found across central Europe. It parasitizes pupae of cutwor...
Common Yellowjacket
Vespula vulgaris
An aggressive social wasp with bold black and yellow markings that builds large underground paper ne...
Cone Ant
Dorymyrmex insanus
A fast-moving reddish-brown ant that builds distinctive cone-shaped crater nests in sandy soil. It i...
Copidosoma Polyembryonic Wasp
Copidosoma floridanum
A remarkable parasitoid in which a single egg divides into thousands of genetically identical embryo...
Copper-tailed Cuckoo Wasp
Chrysis succincta
A medium-sized cuckoo wasp with a metallic green forebody and a warm coppery-gold abdomen. It parasi...
Coppery Sweat Bee
Augochloropsis sumptuosa
A stout metallic bee with brilliant coppery-green iridescence found across South America. It is a so...
Corn Earworm Egg Parasitoid
Trichogramma pretiosum
A microscopic egg parasitoid wasp used extensively against cotton bollworm and corn earworm. It is t...
Corsican Seed-Harvesting Ant
Messor wasmanni
A large dark harvester ant found in the western Mediterranean region. Major workers have broad heads...
Cotesia Congregata
Cotesia congregata
A gregarious endoparasitoid whose larvae emerge en masse from hornworm caterpillars to spin white co...
Cotesia Glomerata Wasp
Cotesia glomerata
A small gregarious parasitoid wasp that attacks cabbage white butterfly caterpillars. Dozens of larv...
Crotch's Bumblebee
Bombus crotchii
A western North American bumblebee that has declined by over 90% from its historical range. Once com...
Cuckoo Bee
Nomada flava
A slender, wasp-like bee with yellow and black banding that lacks pollen-collecting structures. It i...
Cuckoo Bumblebee
Bombus vestalis
A social parasite that invades buff-tailed bumblebee nests, kills the queen and enslaves the workers...
Cuckoo Wasp
Chrysis ignita
A stunning metallic jewel-toned wasp that lays eggs in other wasps nests. Can curl into an armored b...
Currant Stem Girdler
Janus integer
A slender black stem sawfly that attacks currant and gooseberry bushes. Females girdle the stem tips...
Cypress Sawfly
Monoctenus juniperi
A small sawfly with pectinate antennae in males whose green larvae feed on juniper and cypress folia...
Dacetine Trap-Jaw Ant
Strumigenys emmae
A minute trap-jaw ant with elongate mandibles fringed with specialized hairs used to detect and capt...
Dark Rover Ant
Brachymyrmex patagonicus
A tiny dark brown ant that has rapidly spread across the southern United States as an invasive speci...
Davies' Colletes
Colletes daviesanus
A small solitary bee that lines its nest cells with a cellophane-like secretion. It often nests in m...
Dawson's Burrowing Bee
Amegilla dawsoni
A large solitary bee endemic to Western Australia that nests in massive aggregations in hardpan clay...
Desert Blond Tarantula Hawk
Pepsis thisbe
A large metallic blue-black spider wasp with vibrant orange wings found in the Sonoran Desert. Femal...
Desert Cuckoo Bee
Nomada texana
A parasitic wasp-like bee that lays its eggs in the nests of other desert bees. Its larvae consume t...
Desert Digger Bee
Centris pallida
A large, fuzzy solitary bee of the Sonoran Desert that nests in burrows in hard-packed soil. Males p...
Desert Fire Ant
Solenopsis aurea
A golden-colored fire ant native to the deserts of the American Southwest. It builds inconspicuous n...
Desert Globe Mallow Bee
Diadasia diminuta
A specialist solitary bee that visits only globe mallow flowers in the American Southwest. It lines ...
Desert Honeybee
Apis mellifera jemenitica
A small, heat-tolerant subspecies of honeybee native to the deserts of Africa and Arabia. It can for...
Desert Large-headed Bee
Ctenocolletes nigricans
A dark-bodied, heat-tolerant bee found in arid inland Australia. It forages during the hottest parts...
Desert Leaf-Cutter Ant
Acromyrmex versicolor
The only leaf-cutter ant adapted to true desert habitats in North America. It harvests leaves and fl...
Desert Navigator Ant
Cataglyphis fortis
A heat-tolerant Saharan ant famous for its extraordinary navigation abilities. It uses a built-in pe...
Diamondback Moth Parasite
Diadegma insulare
A small parasitoid that is the most important natural enemy of the diamondback moth on brassica crop...
Diamondback Moth Parasitoid
Diadegma semiclausum
A small ichneumon wasp that is the most important natural enemy of the diamondback moth, a major glo...
Dibrachys Pupal Parasite
Dibrachys cavus
A gregarious parasitoid wasp that attacks the pupae and cocoons of many different insect hosts. It i...
Dinoponera Giant Ant
Dinoponera gigantea
One of the largest ants in the world with workers reaching over 30 mm. It forms queenless colonies w...
Dinosaur Ant
Nothomyrmecia macrops
Considered the most primitive living ant, often called a living fossil. Discovered in 1931 and then ...
Disc-Headed Turtle Ant
Cephalotes varians
A small arboreal turtle ant in which soldiers have perfectly circular, flat heads that serve as livi...
Discothyrea Ant
Discothyrea testacea
An extremely small and rarely seen ant with only a single-segmented antennal club, unique among ants...
Dock Sawfly
Ametastegia glabrata
A small, shiny dark green to black sawfly with pale legs. Larvae are pale green caterpillar-like gru...
Doorkeeper Ant
Colobopsis truncata
A European carpenter ant in which soldiers have uniquely flattened, plug-shaped heads used to block ...
Double-banded Scoliid
Scolia bicincta
A robust black wasp with two prominent yellow bands across the abdomen. It is a beneficial garden in...
Dracula Ant
Mystrium camillae
Has the fastest known animal movement — mandibles snap shut at 90 m/s (320 km/h), 5,000 times faster...
Dusky Birch Sawfly
Croesus latitarsus
A medium-sized sawfly with an orange abdomen and black head and thorax. Larvae are yellowish-green w...
Early Bumblebee
Bombus pratorum
A small bumblebee with yellow collar, yellow midriff band and an orange tail. One of the first to ap...
East African Sugar Ant
Camponotus maculatus
A large, polymorphic ant with major workers having disproportionately large heads. Workers vary in c...
Eastern Carpenter Bee
Xylocopa virginica
A large robust bee that resembles a bumble bee but has a shiny black hairless abdomen. It excavates ...
Eastern Yellowjacket
Vespula maculifrons
A common ground-nesting yellowjacket with bold black and yellow banding on its abdomen. It builds la...
Ectatomma Ant
Ectatomma tuberculatum
A large, heavily sculptured neotropical ant with a powerful sting and distinctive tuberculate body. ...
Elm Cimbicid Sawfly
Cimbex luteus
A large, pale yellowish sawfly with conspicuous knobbed antennae. It is associated with elm trees wh...
Elm Leafminer
Fenusa ulmi
A sawfly whose larvae mine between the upper and lower surfaces of elm leaves. Mines appear as blotc...
Elm Zigzag Sawfly
Aproceros leucopoda
A small, pale green sawfly of East Asian origin that has become invasive in Europe. Larvae create di...
Emerald Ash Borer Parasite
Spathius agrili
A parasitoid wasp from China released in North America to combat the devastating emerald ash borer b...
Emerald Cockroach Wasp
Ampulex compressa
A brilliant emerald-green wasp that zombifies cockroaches. It delivers precise stings to the cockroa...
Emerald Cuckoo Wasp
Stilbum cyanurum
One of the largest and most spectacular cuckoo wasps with a vivid metallic green and blue body. It p...
Emerald Driver Ant
Dorylus emeryi
A medium-sized driver ant with dark brown to black coloration found in West African forests. Colonie...