Hymenoptera - Ants, Bees, Wasps, Sawflies
Hymenoptera is an order of insects that contains sawflies, wasps, bees, and ants. More than 150,000 living species of Hymenoptera have been described, in addition to over 2,000 now extinct. Females typically have a special ovipositor for inserting eggs into hosts or places that are otherwise inaccessible. The ovipositor is often modified into a stinger. The young develop through holometabolism (complete metamorphosis)—that is, they have a worm-like larval stage and an inactive pupal stage before they mature. (Wikipedia, The Hymenopteran Tree of Life)
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Golden Paper Wasp
Wasps: Golden Paper Wasp, Polistes aurifer, Family Vespidae, Order Hymenoptera.
Documented at Rose Valley in Los Padres National Forest, Ventura County, California, USA
AculeataApocritaCaliforniaEntomologyGolden Paper WaspHymenopteraInsectaLos Padres National ForestNorth AmericaOjai ValleyPolistes auriferRancho GrandeRose ValleyUSAUnited States of AmericaVentura CountyVespidaeXplorMor Internationalinsectinsect photographywaspsxplormor
