What’s the skinny?

Most people will have noticed the similarities between bees and wasps and wouldn’t be surprised to learn that they are members of the same suborder of insects, called Apocrita. It turns out that ants also belong to this group! When you look closely at the little critters you can see that their similarities extend beyond their mere hexapodiness.

Most notably, they are distinguished by their narrow waist between the first two segments of the abdomen. Less notably, the larvae of most Apocrita hold their poop in until they have finished developing.

Here we have a brief collection of some snaps I’ve gathered to date of a very small number of Apocritian critters. This is by no means a comprehensive collection!

View the full size gallery!

Can you help me to correctly identify some of the critters shown here? Report mistakes or help with identification by leaving a comment or using the contact page.