Hymenoptera
The order hymenoptera includes our bee, wasp, and hornet friends. "Friends?" you say. "They sting." Yes they do sting, but they accomplish much more good in the natural world than harm.
Did you know that bumblebees are protected by law in Great Britain; bumblebees and hornets are both protected in Germany?
Bees, of course are our primary pollinators. Wasps and hornets do also visit flowers at times, and accomplish some pollination. One variety of fig is entirely pollinated by wasps. But wasps and hornets play a more important role in controlling many pest insects. Have you ever seen a white faced hornet haul off a cabbage worm from your garden, or sweep flies off the back of cattle? Perhaps you've seen mud daubers bringing in paralyzed spiders to feed their young. Or you've seen a caterpillar with cocoons hanging onto it, where a wasp has laid its eggs, and the larvae are parasitizing the caterpillar.
Hornets and wasps
in the garden - picture page
Organ pipe wasps pictorial
Offsite links:
General
Why caring about Bumble Bees,
Wasps and Hornets? (In German, parts in English: click on
English "welcome" to change)
Common
Missouri Wasps, Bees and Hornets USA
Hymenoptera at BeeHoo
France
Virtual
Hymenoptera Gallery at Nebraska
Bees and Wasps in Germany (in German)
Common Missouri
Bees and Wasps
Hymenoptera (in German) images and info
Dutch Entomological Society: Hymenoptera Section
(In Dutch) Includes back issues of their newsletter "Bzzz"
Hornets, Wasps, Yellow Jackets
Hornets: Gentle Giants Awesome
photos! (In German, parts in other languages: click on appropriate flag to change)
Identifying
Yellowjackets
Hornet Boy's Social Wasp Page
Magnificent Yellow Jacket Closeups by Gary
Gaugler
The Cicada Killer
Thriller Page (you may need to click on Joe Coelho's Page)
Providing Housing for Hornets from Hymo-Tech
(Page in German)
Fiction, Fad, or Fact? Hornet
juice for athletic stamina
Bumblebees
The Bumblebee Pages
Scotland
The
Bumblebees of Evergreen NW USA
The Bumblebee Pages
Scotland
Bumblebees of Florida
5 species
Alex Schlecht's Bumblebee Page Bavaria
(In German)