Hymenoptera is a large 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. Many of the species are parasitic. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. This ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism —that is, they have a wormlike larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature.
The Asilidae are the robber fly family, also called assassin flies. They are powerfully built, bristly flies with a short, stout proboscis enclosing the sharp, sucking hypopharynx. The name "robber flies" reflects their expert predatory habits; they feed mainly or exclusively on other insects and, as a rule, they wait in ambush and catch their prey in flight.
This glossary of entomology describes terms used in the formal study of insect species by entomologists.
The Xyelidae are a comparatively species-poor family of sawflies, comprising about 80 extant species in five genera worldwide, and is the only family in the superfamily Xyeloidea. The fossil record of the family is extensive, comprising more than 120 species and including the oldest fossil Hymenoptera species dating back to the Triassic, between 245 and 208 million years ago. Xyelidae are to be regarded as living fossils since they represent one of the oldest lineages of insects and include still extant forms.
Dolichopodidae, the long-legged flies, are a large, cosmopolitan family of true flies with more than 7,000 described species in about 230 genera. The genus Dolichopus is the most speciose, with some 600 species.
Dryinidae is a cosmopolitan family of solitary wasps. Its name comes from the Greek drys for oak: Latreille named the type genus Dryinus because the first species was collected in an oak plant in Spain. The larvae are parasitoids of the nymphs and adults of Auchenorrhyncha. Dryinidae comprises approximately 1900 described species, distributed in 17 subfamilies and 53 genera.
The Calliphorinae are a subfamily of the blow fly family Calliphoridae. The distinguishing characteristics of this subfamily are: the stem vein is bare, the lower calypter and the proepisternal depression are bristly, but the suprasquamal region is bare or with only a few random bristles. The thorax is dull and bears fine hairs, and the abdomen is usually colored shining blue.
Palaeovespa is an extinct genus of wasp in the Vespidae subfamily Vespinae. The genus currently contains eight species, five from the Priabonian stage Florissant Formation in Colorado, United States two from the middle Eocene Baltic amber deposits of Europe. and one species from the late Paleocene of France.
Anteon is the largest genus in the subfamily Anteoninae of the family Dryinidae, it occurs globally and there is a current total of 464 species described. The species in the genus Anteon are parasitoids of leafhoppers from the family Cicadellidae. The female wasps of the family Dryinidae almost always possess a chelate protarsus, as do females of species within Anteon. The chelae are used to capture and immobilise the host leafhopper to allow the wasp to oviposit and feed on it.
Dryinus rasnitsyni is an extinct species of wasp in the dryinid genus Dryinus. The species is solely known from the early Miocene, Burdigalian stage, Dominican amber deposits on the island of Hispaniola.
Gonatopodinae are a subfamily of Dryinidae with wingless, ant-like females, but winged males. Females have a chela on each front leg. There are 17 genera, including Gonatopus.
Zigrasimecia is an extinct genus of ants which existed in the Cretaceous period approximately 98 million years ago. The first specimens were collected from Burmese amber in Kachin State, 100 kilometres (62 mi) west of Myitkyina town in Myanmar. In 2013, palaeoentomologists Phillip Barden and David Grimaldi published a paper describing and naming Zigrasimecia tonsora. They described a dealate female with unusual features, notably the highly specialized mandibles. Other features include large ocelli, short scapes, 12 antennomeres, small eyes, and a clypeal margin that has a row of peg-like denticles. The genus Zigrasimecia was originally incertae sedis within Formicidae until a second species, Zigrasimecia ferox, was described in 2014, leading to its placement in the subfamily Sphecomyrminae. Later, it was considered to belong to the distinct subfamily Zigrasimeciinae.
Polistes carnifex, commonly known as the executioner wasp, is a neotropical vespid wasp in the cosmopolitan genus Polistes.
Distoleon tetragrammicus is a species of antlion in the subfamily Myrmeleontinae.
Sapyga louisi is a species of a club-horned wasp in the family – Sapygidae. Adults feed from flowers and the larvae are kleptoparasites of leaf cutter bee larvae, including those of Heriades carinata.
Dryinus is a cosmopolitan genus of dryinid parasitic wasp. Over 242 species have been described worldwide. Numerous fossil species have been described from the Baltic, Dominican and Burmese ambers.
Jouault, Corentin; Rosse-Guillevic, Simon. "A new genus of praeaulacid wasp from the mid-Cretaceous Kachin amber (Myanmar)". Annales de Paléontologie. 109 (1): 102599. doi:10.1016/j.annpal.2023.102599.
Zaitzevia elongata is a species of riffle beetle which is wingless and flightless. It is found on several of the Ryukyu Islands in Japan in the gravel substrate of streams.
Deinodryinus is a genus of wasps belonging to the family Dryinidae.
Embolemopsis is an extinct genus of wasps belonging to the family Embolemidae. Two species are known: the type species, E. baissensis from the Aptian Zaza Formation of Russia, and E. maryannae from the Barremian Wessex Formation of England.
