Minibeast Profiles: Ants, Bees and Wasps
by Gary A. Dunn, M.S., F.R.E.S., Director of Education
Just about everyone recognizes an ant when they see one. They are usually yellowish, reddish, brownish, or black in color, and they have a narrowly constricted, "hourglass" waist, and elbowed antennae. All ants (family Formicidae) are social insects. They live in colonies that are composed of three groups (called castes): queens, males, and workers. The queens and males are the primary reproductives and are responsible for the reproduction and dispersal of the species (and so at special times in their lives they are winged). After mating the male reproductives usually die, while the queen constructs a small nest which she will seldom, if ever, leave for the rest of her life. The non-winged worker ants are responsible for nest maintenance, food-gathering, care of the larvae, and defense of the colony.
A carpenter ant (worker), Camponotus pennsylvanicus
Wasps can be divided into two groups based on their habits. Social wasps construct small to large-sized paper nests containing 20 to 1500 individuals. On the other hand, solitary wasps are not colonial, and make a nest in the ground or construct a tubular mud nest. In either case, both types of wasps are highly beneficial because of their predatory habits. However, because of their ability to sting many people consider them a pest.
The most frequently encountered social wasps are the yellowjackets and the bald-faced hornet (actually a large yellowjacket). These wasps are easily recognized by the bold black and yellow (or black and white) markings. They construct large paper nests that may be located in trees and shrubs, in the ground, or in natural or artificial cavities. The colonies contain 800 to 5000 individuals. The paper wasps are uniformly reddish-brown in color and have long, gangly legs. Their small paper nests are umbrella-shaped with an open face (looks like a small honeycomb) and are usually attached to a horizontal surface, like buildings (rafters, eaves, overhangs, window cases, etc.), tree branches, or rock ledges. Colonies contain 20 to 75 individuals. All the social wasps (family Vespidae) develop in a similar manner. Colonies of these wasps contain three types of individuals - workers, males and queens. The workers and queens are females; the workers are sterile, non-reproductive individuals responsible for nest construction, food gathering, and defense, while the queens are fertile females that lay all the eggs. In the fall new queens and males leave their nests and mate. The males die shortly after mating, but the mated queens overwinter in sheltered locations outdoors, or in buildings. All the workers and old queens die when the fall frosts hit, so the paper nests become abandoned at the end of the season. In the spring the mated females emerge from hibernation, seek out a suitable nest site and construct a small nest. The nest is made out of a paper-like substance manufactured from saliva and chewed plant fibers (wood and bark). The queen cares for the first brood (the larvae must be fed by the adults). All of the first brood develop into workers and they soon take charge of the nest. The queen resumes egg laying to produce additional broods. By late summer the colony reaches full size and the males and new queens are produced.
Solitary wasps differ from social wasps in nesting habits and life cycle. Solitary wasps have no worker caste - the females must care for their own young. Therefore, females of the solitary wasps usually have a single nest or a small group of nests. Females of the solitary wasps use their sting to paralyze their prey (flies, cicadas, caterpillars, and spiders) and not for defense of their nest. As a result, solitary wasps are usually non-aggressive and rarely sting (unless held or caught in your clothing). The females provision their nests with living, paralyzed prey and then leave the larvae to develop on their own. Three species of solitary wasps are frequently encountered - mud daubers, spider wasps, and cicada killers. The mud dauber wasps are medium to large sized, shiny black or metallic blue-black wasps with slender abdomens. They build tubular, finger-shaped nests of mud that are attached to flat, more or less vertical surfaces. Spider wasps are also medium to large sized, blackish wasps, but their abdomen is not narrow and thread-like. They build nests of mud or burrow in the ground. The cicada killer wasp are large wasps with dark brown bodies and black abdomens with yellow markings. They are ground nesters which prefer sandy soils where the females dig tunnel-like chambers. The females search for cicadas to provision their nests (hence the common name). Each chamber in the nest (often as many as 16) is supplied with a paralyzed cicada and a wasp egg. When the wasp larva hatches it feeds on the cicada. Later the larva pupates and the wasp hibernates in the nest as an immature adult.
There are many types of bees, and virtually all of them are highly beneficial because of their activity as plant pollinators. However, since bees can sting there are people who consider them a pest. Bees, as a group, can be distinguished from the wasps by their dense covering of plumose (feather-like) body hairs. Two groups of commonly encountered ground nesting bees are the bumble bees and the burrower bees. Bumble bees are easy to recognize because of their large, hairy, black and yellow (sometimes orange) bodies. Bumble bees live in colonies of several hundred individuals; however, only the new queens successfully overwinter. Burrower bees are small to medium-sized, blackish or brownish bees with densely pubescent heads and midsections. Each female constructs a burrow in the ground and provisions it with nectar and pollen.
Carpenter bees and leafcutter bees will nest in tree branches, wood or shingle gaps. The carpenter bees are large and resemble bumble bees. However, the abdomen of the carpenter bee is shiny black and bald, where the abdomen of the bumble bee is black and yellow and densely hairy. The leafcutter bees are smaller and the underside of their abdomen is covered with dense whitish hairs used to carry pollen. They get their name from the fact that they cut circular disks of leaf tissue to use in their nests.
The honey bee is not native to North America; they were brought here by the colonists. "Wild" honey bee colonies are descendants of those bees which escaped from apiaries. Wild honey bees usually nest in hollow trees, but sometimes they choose to nest in the attics or wall voids of houses and this can create a real problem. Honey bees are social and their colonies have three types of individuals - workers, drones (males) and queens. Most people see only the workers because they actively gather food for the colony. The queens (reproductive females) may live for up to five years, and in their prime may produce 1500 to 2000 eggs per day. Honey bee colonies may contain 20,000 to 60,000 individuals.
The so-called "killer bee", more properly referred to as the Africanized bee, is also an introduced species. The ancestors of these aggressive bees were brought to South America several decades ago and some of them escaped. Their populations have been growing at a fast rate and they now inhabit large portions of the New World. They currently can be found from Brazil northward to Mexico and the southwestern United States.
REFERENCES
If you are interested in learning more about ants, wasps and bees, I recommend the following books:
| This educational resource was prepared by the Young Entomologists Society, 6907 West Grand River Ave., Lansing MI 48906-9158, phone/fax 517-886-0630, e-mail YESbugs@aol.com. Support minibeast youth education - join Y.E.S. today! |