this post was submitted on 02 Oct 2025
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[–] Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.com -1 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

Bees are technically a kind of wasp.

[–] ZoopZeZoop@lemmy.world 13 points 11 hours ago (1 children)

If I am understanding the chart here correctly, bees are not a type of wasp. Bees, wasps, ants, and sawflies are all Hymenopterans, but distinct from each other.

[–] Redjard@lemmy.dbzer0.com 4 points 8 hours ago* (last edited 8 hours ago)

That graph does contain bees among wasps.

To be specific, bees are a "Cladistically included but traditionally excluded taxa" of wasps, since they are within Apocrita.

The common-language definition of wasp is literally "A member of Apocrita ... except bees (and ants)".
It's the same situation as saying a chicken is a dinosaur, and why the field often uses "non-avian dinosaurs" instead for clarity.

This wikipedia diagram from the Aculeata article is a bit more concise:

Take now for example Stephanoidea, "a superfamily of parasitic wasps within the Apocrita". Clearly wasps, yet equally closely related to yellow-jackets and honey-bees.

Edit: mixed up Aculeata and Aulacidae. Edit2:

If you go further into Apoidae, even there you still find plenty more "clearly wasp" type species:

Take Sphecidae:

Or Philanthidae:

All on the same level as actual bees (Anthophila).

I think also in terms of vibes it feels right to call bees a subset of wasps.