Santa Cruz Island Reserve, California-Insects

The Ichneumonidae are a family within the order Hymenoptera. Insects in this family are commonly called ichneumon wasps. Less exact terms are ichneumon flies (they are not closely related to true flies), or scorpion wasps due to the extreme lengthening and curving of the abdomen (scorpions are arachnids). Simply but ambiguously, these insects are commonly called "ichneumons", which is also a term for the Egyptian mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon); ichneumonids is often encountered as a less ambiguous... less ↑

The Sphecidae (Latreille, 1802) are a cosmopolitan family of wasps that include digger wasps, mud daubers, and other familiar types that all fall under the category of thread-waisted wasps. Both of the traditional definitions of the Sphecidae (the conservative one, where all the sphecoid wasps other than ampulicids and heterogynaids were in a single large family, and the more refined one, where the seven large sphecid subfamilies were each elevated to family rank) have recently been... less ↑

The Halictidae are a very large and nearly cosmopolitan family of the order Hymenoptera consisting of small (> 4 mm) to midsize (> 8 mm) bees which are usually dark-colored and often metallic in appearance. Several species are all or partly green and a few are red; a number of them have yellow markings, especially the males, which commonly possess yellow faces, a pattern widespread among the various families of bees. They are commonly referred to as sweat... less ↑

The Crabronidae are a large family of wasps, including nearly all of the species formerly comprising the now-defunct superfamily Sphecoidea. It collectively includes well over 200 genera, containing well over 9000 species. Crabronids were originally a part of Sphecidae, but the latter name is now restricted to a separate family based on what was once the subfamily Sphecinae. As this change is very recent, the subfamilies of Crabronidae likely will each eventually be treated as families... less ↑

The Vespidae are a large (nearly 5,000 species), diverse, cosmopolitan family of wasps, including nearly all the known eusocial wasps (such as Polistes annularis) and many solitary wasps. Each social wasp colony includes a queen and a number of female workers with varying degrees of sterility relative to the queen. In temperate social species, colonies usually only last one year, dying at the onset of winter. New queens and males (drones) are produced towards the end... less ↑

The Andrenidae are a large, nearly cosmopolitan (absent in Australia), nonparasitic bee family, with most of the diversity in temperate and/or arid areas (warm temperate xeric). It includes some enormous genera (e.g., Andrena with over 1300 species, and Perdita with nearly 800). One of the subfamilies, Oxaeinae, is so different in appearance that they were typically accorded family status, but careful phylogenetic analysis reveals them to be an offshoot within the Andrenidae, very close to the... less ↑

The Encyrtidae are a large family of parasitic wasps, with some 3710 described species in about 455 genera. The larvae of the majority are primary parasitoids on Hemiptera, though other hosts are attacked, and details of the life history can be variable (e.g., some attack eggs, some attack larvae, others are hyperparasites, and some Encyrtidae develop as parasitoids of ticks). They are found throughout the world in virtually all habitats, and are extremely important as biological... less ↑

The Pteromalidae are a very large family of parasitic wasps, with some 3,450 described species in about 640 genera (the number was greater, but many species and genera have been reduced to synonymy in recent years). The subfamily-level divisions of the family are highly contentious and unstable, and the family unquestionably is completely artificial, composed of numerous, distantly related groups (polyphyletic). Accordingly, details of their life histories range over nearly the entire range possible within the... less ↑

Commonly known as cuckoo wasps, the hymenopteran family Chrysididae is a very large cosmopolitan group (over 3000 described species) of parasitoid or cleptoparasitic wasps, often highly sculptured, with brilliantly colored metallic-like bodies (thus the common names jewel wasp, gold wasp, or emerald wasp are sometimes used). They are most diverse in desert regions of the world, as they are typically associated with solitary bee and wasp species, which are also most diverse in such areas. less ↑

Chrysis is a genus of cuckoo wasps belonging to the family Chrysididae, subfamily Chrysidinae and the tribe Chrysidini. It is the most populous genus within the Chrysidinae, including as it does over 1,000 species. The generic name is derived from Greek chrysis, "gold vessel, gold-embroidered dress", and pays tribute to the brilliant metallic appearance of wasps in the genus. less ↑

The Torymidae are a family of wasps that consists of attractive metallic species with enlarged hind legs, and generally with long ovipositors in the females. Many are parasitoids on gall-forming insects, and some are phytophagous (plant-eating) species, sometimes usurping the galls formed by other insects. Over 960 species in about 70 genera are found worldwide. They are best recognized in that they are one of the few groups of Chalcidoidea in which the cerci are visible. less ↑

The Perilampidae are a small family within the Chalcidoidea, composed mostly of hyperparasitoids. The family is closely related to the Eucharitidae, and the eucharitids appear to have evolved from within the Perilampidae, thus rendering the family paraphyletic (if the two families are joined in the future, the name with precedence is Eucharitidae). As presently defined, there are 15 genera and >270 species worldwide. They are often brilliantly metallic (especially blue or green), with robust mesosomae and... less ↑

The subfamily Nomadinae (e.g. Nomada, Epeolus, Triepeolus, Holcopasites) is the largest and most diverse group of cleptoparasitic "cuckoo bees" with 31 genera in 10 tribes; they occur worldwide, and utilize many different types of bees as hosts. As parasites, they lack a pollen-carrying scopa, and are often extraordinarily wasp-like in appearance. All known species share the behavioral trait of females entering host nests when the host is absent, and inserting their eggs into the wall of... less ↑