Vespoidea Information & Vespoidea Links at HealthHaven.com

Vespoidea
	Dolichovespula maculata, Bald faced hornet
Scientific classification
Kingdom:	Animalia;
Phylum:	Arthropoda;
Class:	Insecta;
Order:	Hymenoptera;
Suborder:	Apocrita;
Superfamily:	Vespoidea;
Families
	see text

Vespoidea is a superfamily of order Hymenoptera of class Insecta, although older taxonomic schemes may vary in this categorization, particularly in their recognition of a now-obsolete superfamily Scolioidea. The members of this group are wasps and ants.

[edit] Vespoid Families

Vespoidea

Tiphiidae

	Sapygidae

	Mutillidae

	Pompilidae

	Rhopalosomatidae

Formicidae

	Vespidae

	Scoliidae

}}

Phylogenetic relationships of Vespoid families based on Brothers (1999)^[1]

Bradynobaenidae
Formicidae - Ants
Mutillidae - Velvet Ants
Pompilidae - Spider Wasps
Rhopalosomatidae - Rhopalosomatid Wasps
Sapygidae - Sapygid Wasps
Scoliidae - Scoliid Wasps
Sierolomorphidae - Sierolomorphid Wasps
Tiphiidae - Tiphiid wasps
Vespidae - Paper Wasps, Hornets, Potter Wasps, Yellow Jackets, and relatives

Newer research based on four nuclear genes (elongation factor-1α F2 copy, long-wavelength rhodopsin, wingless and the D2–D3 regions of 28S ribosomal RNA (2700 bp in total)) suggest that the higher level relationships need to be changed with Rhopalosomatidae as a sister group of the Vespidae and the clade Rhopalosomatidae + Vespidae as sister to all other vespoids/apoids. Several other groups are also noted to be paraphyletic.^[2]

[edit] References

^ Brothers, D. J. 1999. Phylogeny and evolution of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Chrysisoidea, Vespoidea, and Apoidea). Zoologica Scripta 28: 233-249.
^ Pilgrim, E., von Dohlen, C., & Pitts, J. (2008). "Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily and novel relationships of its component families and subfamilies". Zoologica Scripta 37 (5): 539–560. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00340.x.

[edit] External links

Image Gallery from Gembloux

This Hymenoptera-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

[0] Brothers, D. J. 1999. Phylogeny and evolution of wasps, ants and bees (Hymenoptera, Chrysisoidea, Vespoidea, and Apoidea). Zoologica Scripta 28: 233-249.

[1] Pilgrim, E., von Dohlen, C., & Pitts, J. (2008). "Molecular phylogenetics of Vespoidea indicate paraphyly of the superfamily and novel relationships of its component families and subfamilies". Zoologica Scripta 37 (5): 539–560. doi:10.1111/j.1463-6409.2008.00340.x.

[1]

[2]