Hymenopterans
| Hymenoptera Temporal range: Triassic – recent 251–0 Ma |
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| A digger wasp, Sphex pensylvanicus | |
| Scientific classification | |
| Kingdom: | Animalia |
| Phylum: | Arthropoda |
| Class: | Insecta |
| (unranked): | Endopterygota |
| Superorder: | Hymenopterida |
| Order: |
Hymenoptera Linnaeus, 1758 |
| Suborders | |
Hymenoptera is the third-largest order of insects, comprising the sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. Over 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 extinct ones.
Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or otherwise inaccessible places. The ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a worm-like larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature.
The name Hymenoptera refers to the wings of the insects, but the original derivation is ambiguous. All references agree that the derivation involves the Ancient Greek (pteron) for wing. The Ancient Greek (hymen) for membrane provides a plausible etymology for the term because this order like several others has membranous wings. However, a key characteristic of this order is that the hind wings are connected to the fore wings by a series of hooks. Thus, another plausible etymology involves Hymen, the Ancient Greek god of marriage, as these insects have "married wings" in flight.
The cladogram of external relationships, based on a 2008 DNA and protein analysis, shows the family as a clade, most closely related to endopterygote orders including the Diptera (true flies) and Lepidoptera (butterflies and moths).
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Wikipedia