Q 01/05

Wasps belong to which order of insects?

A) Diptera

B) Hymenoptera

C) Hemiptera

D) Coleoptera

Answer · why

B) Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera. A row of tiny hooks zips each hind wing to the fore wing in flight, so the insect's four wings beat as two; the name is usually read as '...

Q 02/05

What stops wasps from being a clade, or natural group?

A) They have no common ancestor at all

B) Sawflies are included in the group

C) Bees and ants evolved from wasp ancestors

D) Stinging and stingless wasps are unrelated

Answer · why

C) Bees and ants evolved from wasp ancestors

Bees and ants evolved from wasp ancestors, so both sit deep inside the wasp family tree; 'wasp' is just the name for what is left of the branch once t...

Q 03/05

In a hornet or yellowjacket nest, which wasps are able to sting?

A) Only the males

B) Only the females

C) Only the queen

D) Every adult wasp

Answer · why

B) Only the females

Only the females. That still covers the queen and every worker, so nearly the whole nest is armed, while the males have no sting at all.

Q 04/05

How do most wasp species live?

A) Solitary

B) In colonies

C) Roughly half and half

D) In colonies in the tropics only

Answer · why

A) Solitary

Only the family Vespidae contains social species; the vast majority of females forage and breed independently.

Q 05/05

A wasp's stinger is a modified version of what organ?

A) The mandible

B) A hind leg

C) The proboscis

D) The ovipositor

Answer · why

D) The ovipositor

The ovipositor. Many wasps still use it as an egg-laying drill, some boring through solid wood to reach a hidden grub, while in the stinging species i...