Hymenoptera

Question 1

explain the hymenoptera order

Answer 1

• sawflies, parasitoid wasps, stinging wasps, bees, and ants
• Name means ‘joined wing’

Question 2

explain the ecological importance of hymenoptera

Answer 2

• The parasitoids, predatory wasps, and ants are each huge forces regulating the populations of other arthropods
• Bees are the major pollinators of both natural and agricultural flowering plants

Question 3

explain the economic importance of hymenoptera

Answer 3

• use parasitoids, predatory wasps, and ants as pest control to regulate arthropod populations
• managed pollination is used in agriculture

Question 4

explain the evolutionary transitions in the hymenoptera

Answer 4

• ovipositor and herbivory -> wasp waist and parasitoidism -> hunting, sting and nest building -> pollination.
• Nest enables sociality -> once social, can evolve larger colony sizes and complexity

Question 5

what are the three suborders of hymenoptera

Answer 5

• Symphata
• Parasitica
• Aculeata

Question 6

suborders of hymenoptera - symphata

Answer 6

• Sawflies
• they are herbivores

Question 7

suborders of hymenoptera - parasitica

Answer 7

Parasitoids

Question 8

suborders of hymenoptera - aculeata

Answer 8

• Stinging Hymenoptera
• Mostly predators, but not all

Question 9

explain the symphata suborder

Answer 9

• Herbivores
• Ancestral hymenoptera group
• No ‘wasp (skinny) waist’
• Oviposit into plant with ‘saw’ ovipositor
• Caterpillar-like larvae

Question 10

explain the hypothesis for the evolutionary transition: ovipositor -> parasitoidism

Answer 10

parasitoids was a short step to bypass the burrow and just oviposit into prey

Question 11

explain the Parasitica suborder

Answer 11

evolution of wasp waist and the parasitoid niche

Question 12

parasitica - define parasitoid

Answer 12

consume/kill host from within

Question 13

parasitica - what has to change from a symphata (sawflies) to parasiticas (parasitoids)

Answer 13

• foraging targets
• morphology/behavior
• ecological interactions

Question 14

parasitica: what has to change from a symphata (sawflies) - foraging targets

Answer 14

Searching for insect prey not plants

Question 15

parasitica: what has to change from a symphata (sawflies) - morphology/behavior

Answer 15

• Instead of having a plant, you have things that can run away.
• Narrow waist allows easier attacks if the prey runs away
• ovipositor is used to drill into hosts not plants

Question 16

parasitica: what has to change from a symphata (sawflies) - ecological interactions

Answer 16

moved up a trophic level, to where predators are

Question 17

parasitica: shift to parasitoidism

Answer 17

• Hugely successful shift
• Vast diversity
• Most species have hymenopteran parasitoids
• Ecologically important for population control, pests in agriculture

Question 18

explain the Aculeata suborder

Answer 18

• Ovipositor is now a sting that injects venom instead of eggs
• No male has a stinger (only females)

Question 19

aculeata - problems

Answer 19

• Parasitoids limited by size of host
• Have to keep hosts alive throughout parasitoid development

Question 20

aculeata - solutions

Answer 20

Sting prey to paralyze it

Question 21

aculeata - what has to change from a parasitoid in order for the prey to be stung

Answer 21

• Morphology, behavior, etc.
• Sensory and ecological adaptations/implications

Question 22

aculeata: what has to change - morphology/behavior

Answer 22

• evolution of nest building
• once paralyzed, take prey to safe place (dig a hole in the ground – their nest) and oviposit on or next to prey
• Build nest to protect prey so resource is monopolized by offspring alone

Question 23

aculeata: what has to change - sensory and ecological adaptatins/implications

Answer 23

• Evolve the ability to move around
• Later evolves into social groups

Question 24

aculeata - What relationships are present between hunting wasps and prey body size

Answer 24

• Multiple prey – size does not matter between prey and wasp
• Single prey – size and wasp size are similar

Question 25

explain the Bees

Answer 25

- Evolved from within the hunting wasps - Provision young with pollen and nectar (rather than prey) - Diverse - Most important pollinators in natural and agricultural systems - Evolution of social behavior but vast majority are solitary - Sting for self (and nest) defense – no hunting

Question 26

the bees - do you think that bees evolved from hunters that provisioned their young with single, large prey. Or multiple small prey?

Answer 26

More likely evolved from hunters that provisioned their young with many small prey

Question 27

explain bees and pollination

Answer 27

- All bees exploit pollen for food; not all are pollinators - Broad coevolution between plants and bees: flowers signal reward, bees seek them out

Question 28

bees and pollination - how do plants and bees see pollen

Answer 28

- Bee’s perspective: food, protein source - Plants perspective: way to package sperm

Question 29

bees and pollination - how do plants and bees see nectar

Answer 29

- Bee’s perspective: food, carb source - Plant’s perspective: way to lure bees (or other animals) to the pollen

Question 30

bees and pollination - how do plants and bees see a bee

Answer 30

- Bee’s perspective: N/A - Plant’s perspective: more efficient way than wind to get genes to another flower

Question 31

bees and pollination - how do plants and bees see a flower

Answer 31

- Bee’s perspective: place to find food - Plant’s perspective: signal to attract animals to pollen

Question 32

what is managed pollination

Answer 32

- bees being developed for agriculture: e.g., mason bees (*Osmia* sp.) - Solitary, so cant be raised in such numbers - But each individual is much more efficient than a honeybee - Managing pollinators becomes easier when its small and a variety of crops

Question 33

misconceptions about bees

Answer 33

- all bees live in a hive - There's a queen bee and worker bee - Bees die when they sting you - Bees make honey

Question 34

misconceptions about bees - all bees live in a hive

Answer 34

- No, most bees are solitary and dig nests into the ground or a cavity - bees take the honey back to the nest (usually tunnel in ground, or stick, or in cavity) and put it in individual cell, lay egg on the cell, repeat

Question 35

misconceptions about bees - there's a queen and a worker bee

Answer 35

- Not usually - Most bees are single moms - Mom’s lay eggs, gives them food, then leave

Question 36

misconceptions about bees - bees die when they sting you

Answer 36

- No, only honeybees do this - honeybees die bc their barbed stinger remains in the skin, pulling her guts out - Wasps, ants, and other bees can sting over and over - some bees and ants don’t sting at all

Question 37

misconceptions about bees - bees make honey

Answer 37

Only *Apis* honeybees and stingless bees make honey

Question 38

explain parasitism of stored resources in the hymenoptera order

Answer 38

- nesting opens up new opportunity for those that can access nests - Many Hymenoptera have evolved brood-parasitism on other Hymenoptera hosts (a few flies and beetles have evolved this too)

Question 39

parasitism of stored resources - explain relatedness and parasitism

Answer 39

- Many members of ‘honest’ groups (both solitary and social) evolved into parasites - So, a bee or wasp may parasitize closely related nest-building species in addition to species from parasitic families