Vespoidea is a superfamily of in the order Hymenoptera. Vespoidea includes wasps with a large variety of lifestyles including Eusociality, social, and solitary habits, predators, scavengers, parasitoids, and some herbivores.
Description
Vespoid wasp females have antennae with 10 flagellomeres, while males have 11 flagellomeres. The edge of the
pronotum reaches or passes the tegula. Many species display some level of sexual dimorphism. Most species have fully developed wings, but some have reduced or absent wings in one or both sexes. As in other
Aculeata, only the females are ever capable of
Stinger.
Phylogenetics and taxonomy
Research based on four
(elongation factor-1α F2 copy, long-wavelength
rhodopsin, wingless and the D2–D3 regions of 28S
ribosomal RNA—2700 bp in total) suggests the historical view of family relationships need to be changed, with Rhopalosomatidae as a
sister group of the Vespidae and the clade Rhopalosomatidae + Vespidae as sister to all other classical vespoids and apoids. In a study in 2008, the superfamily Apoidea was found to nest within the Vespoidea, suggesting the dismantling of Vespoidea (
sensu lato) into many smaller superfamilies:
Formicoidea,
Scolioidea,
Tiphioidea,
Thynnoidea, and
Pompiloidea in addition to a much more narrowly defined Vespoidea (restricted to
Rhopalosomatidae and
Vespidae). Their research also found families Mutillidae, Tiphiidae, and Bradynobaenidae to be
paraphyletic.
A later study in 2013 confirmed the need for revision of high-level relationships, and the pattern of sister-group relationships within the putative Vespoidea largely matched the same basic pattern as the 2008 study. This study also noted a paraphyletic Bradynobaenidae and Tiphiidae.
The extinct family of Armaniidae also was formerly considered to be a group of "ant-like wasps" and was also classified under Vespoidea.
Families retained in Vespoidea
Families represented by Formicoidea
Families represented by Pompiloidea
Families represented by Scolioidea
Families represented by Tiphioidea
Families represented by Thynnoidea
External links
