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Vespoidea

Hornets, spider wasps, ants, etc.

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taxon links [up-->]Vespidae [up-->]Formicidae [up-->]Scoliidae [up-->]Sapygidae [up-->]Mutillidae [up-->]Bradynobaenidae [up-->]Tiphiidae [down<--]Aculeata Interpreting the tree
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This tree diagram shows the relationships between several groups of organisms.

The root of the current tree connects the organisms featured in this tree to their containing group and the rest of the Tree of Life. The basal branching point in the tree represents the ancestor of the other groups in the tree. This ancestor diversified over time into several descendent subgroups, which are represented as internal nodes and terminal taxa to the right.

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You can click on the root to travel down the Tree of Life all the way to the root of all Life, and you can click on the names of descendent subgroups to travel up the Tree of Life all the way to individual species.

For more information on ToL tree formatting, please see Interpreting the Tree or Classification. To learn more about phylogenetic trees, please visit our Phylogenetic Biology pages.

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Tree after Brothers (1999) and Grimaldi et al. (1997).
Containing group: Aculeata

Other Names for Vespoidea

References

Ashmead, W. J. 1903. Classification of the fossorial, predaceous and parasitic wasps, or the superfamily Vespoidea. Paper no. 15, Canadian Entomologist 35: 199-205.

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

Brothers, D. J. and Carpenter, J. M. 1993. Phylogeny of Aculeata: Chrysidoidea and Vespoidea (Hymenoptera). Journal of Hymenoptera Research 2: 227-304.

Carpenter, J. M. 1981. The phylogenetic relationships and natural classification of the Vespoidea (Hymenoptera). Systematic Entomology 7: 11-38.

Grimaldi, D., Agosti, D., and Carpenter, J. M. 1997. New and rediscovered primitive ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae) in Cretaceous amber from New Jersey, and their phylogenetic relationships. American Museum Novitates 3208: 1-43.

Title Illustrations
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Click on an image to view larger version & data in a new window
Scientific Name Atta cephalotes
Location La Selva Biological Station, Costa Rica
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Behavior Workers of different casts of leaf cutter ants cutting a leaf.
Copyright © 1996 Greg and Marybeth Dimijian
Scientific Name Polistes jadwigae
Location Japan
Specimen Condition Live Specimen
Source アシナガバチ(Polistes jadwigae)
Image Use creative commons This media file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License - Version 2.5.
Copyright © 2006 OpenCage
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Citing this page:

Tree of Life Web Project. 1995. Vespoidea. Hornets, spider wasps, ants, etc.. Version 01 January 1995 (temporary). http://tolweb.org/Vespoidea/11191/1995.01.01 in The Tree of Life Web Project, http://tolweb.org/

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This page is a Tree of Life Branch Page.

Each ToL branch page provides a synopsis of the characteristics of a group of organisms representing a branch of the Tree of Life. The major distinction between a branch and a leaf of the Tree of Life is that each branch can be further subdivided into descendent branches, that is, subgroups representing distinct genetic lineages.

For a more detailed explanation of the different ToL page types, have a look at the Structure of the Tree of Life page.

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Vespoidea

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