How many wings do members of the order Hymenoptera have. Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera are one of the largest orders of insects. It includes more than 100 thousand described species, but this number should be increased by at least 3 times, since many species are not yet known to science. These insects are distributed all over the world. Their sizes vary from fractions of a millimeter to several centimeters. For example, some species of chalcidoid riders (only 0.2 mm long) are among the most small insects, while the body length of the female Javanese Scolia capitata can reach 60 mm, and the length of the female hornet - 35 mm.

If by general level evolutionary development dipterans are usually put in the first place, then the representatives of hymenoptera undoubtedly occupy the first place in terms of complexity and variety of behavioral forms, as well as social organization. It is the care of offspring (along with morphological and physiological adaptations) that is characteristic feature hymenoptera, which ensured their undoubted evolutionary success. Ants have reached a qualitatively new level of social organization. Some species, under certain conditions, form federations - a friendly association of families in territories of tens of hectares. From a biological point of view, federation is almost highest form social organization among all life on Earth. Individual behavior in Hymenoptera is also complex. On the example of the honey bee and other representatives of the order, it was proved that insects are capable not only of developing various conditioned reflexes, but also of solving abstract problems (cognitive, or “intellectual” activity), not inferior to vertebrates in this indicator.

A distinctive feature of Hymenoptera is haplo-diploid sex determination: females hatch from fertilized, diploid eggs, and males hatch from unfertilized, haploid eggs, which in most organisms do not develop.

The name of the detachment is associated with the structure of the wings of its representatives. It should be noted that the logic in the historically established names is often absent. In Diptera, for example, wings are no less "webbed" than in Hymenoptera. But Hymenoptera have two pairs of them. The fore and hind wings are connected to each other by special hooks and work as a single unit, so that they are functionally hymenopterous Diptera. This phenomenon is observed in almost all four-winged insects that fly well, with the exception of dragonflies. In a number of species of Hymenoptera, wings are lost. Wingless workers in all species of ants, female German wasps (Mutilidae), some riders.

In sessile-bellies, the first segment of the abdomen is wide, it is motionless attached to the chest. The group is archaic in a number of ways. Species richness sessile belly is small. There are 14 families of sawflies and horntails in the suborder - owners of a serrated ovipositor, with which the female saws through plant tissues in order to lay eggs in the wound. Most representatives of the suborder are phytophages, that is, consumers of exclusively plant foods. Plant pests are found among sawflies.

Stingers include thousands of species of various solitary and social wasps and bees, as well as ants. The ovipositor of these insects is transformed into a sting, which is used both for hunting and for protection against vertebrates. Accessory gonads are transformed into poisonous. It was among those who sting that concern for offspring reached the highest level. In this group, a social way of life repeatedly arose. Bees that have switched to feeding on nectar and pollen of plants play huge role as pollinators. To them, and only to them, as many scientists believe, we owe all the variety of flowering plants that inhabit our planet.

The species richness and diversity of hymenoptera are so great that within the framework of a single volume publication it is possible to consider only some of the most striking or widespread representatives of the order (at the species level and at the level of supraspecific taxa).

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What features of the structure of Hymenoptera, you will learn from this article.

Features of Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera are the most numerous and most developed order of insects. The order Hymenoptera includes wasps, bees, bumblebees, ants and riders.

A distinctive feature of this family is that its representatives have two pairs of membranous wings. In this case, the rear pair does not function during the flight. There are also wingless species of insects.

Characteristics of Hymenoptera: structural features

The organism of this family in its structure has some features. The size of the calf varies between 0.2 mm - 6 cm. The head, chest and abdomen stand out. These segments are clearly separated from each other. The sense organs are located on the head. The eyes are well developed and have a complex structure. But in nature, blind worker ants are also found. The organs of touch are cranked or straight antennae, which consist of segments in the amount of 3-60 pieces. The degree of their development depends on the type of insects. In primitive species of hymenoptera oral apparatus gnawing type, and in higher insects - licking-sucking, when the lower lip was transformed into a proboscis.

The chest of representatives of this family is divided into: underdeveloped metathorax, mesothorax and prothorax. The limbs and wings of an insect are attached to it. The wings themselves are transparent and membranous. Moreover, the front pair of wings is longer and better developed than the back. Therefore, in flight they play a leading role. The hindwings have a simplified venation. They are rarely reduced in worker ants.

The abdomen is segmented. There are 6 to 8 of them. In females, an ovipositor is located at the end of the abdomen, which is transformed into a drill or sting, and in males, copulation organs are located in this place. Poisonous paired glands are located at the base of the sting. The drill and sting are designed to introduce eggs into a plant or animal, where the larva will subsequently live. Hymenoptera also include insects that do not have a sting. Instead, a poisonous gland. After a bite, poison is injected through it into the wound.

The digestive system has a long intestine and is well developed in insects that live for a long time in the adult stage - bees and wasps. It is worse developed in insects with a short life cycle - gall wasps and riders. The peculiarity of the respiratory organs of Hymenoptera in the supply of blisters to the tracheal system.

In insects life cycle with complete transformation passes through several stages: egg, larva, pupa and adult insect.

We hope that from this article you have learned what the structure of Hymenoptera is.

Honey bees, wild bees, bumblebees, ants, riders, sawflies, horntails are hymenoptera that have two pairs of membranous wings in adulthood (hence the name of their order). There are also wingless insects that are part of this order, such as worker ants. About 300,000 species of Hymenoptera are known.

Figure: Hymenoptera - great horntail and birch sawfly

sawflies

In sawflies, females have a saw-like ovipositor. With them, these insects saw through plant tissue in order to lay eggs in the cuts made. Sawfly larvae are similar to butterfly caterpillars and are called caterpillars. From caterpillars with 2-5 pairs of pseudopods, they are distinguished by the presence of 6-8 pairs of pseudopods. Sawfly larvae feed mainly on plant leaves. Some of them are known as malicious pests of trees and shrubs. Thus, the larvae of coniferous sawflies often completely eat the needles of trees.

Horntails

Horntails got their name because their females have a long ovipositor, hard as a horn. The female, like a drill, drills through wood and lays eggs in the holes made. Horntail larvae feed on wood, damaging many trees.

Riders

Figure: riders - whitefish (left), riss (right)

Pattern: Stinging Hymenoptera

Stinging hymenoptera are well-known wasps, bees, bumblebees and ants. They are called stingy because in females the ovipositor, drawn into the abdomen, has turned into a sting - an instrument of defense and attack. Ants have a very short sting, so they cannot sting. Among bees and wasps, species leading a solitary lifestyle predominate, when each female independently raises her offspring. For others (some bees and some wasps, all bumblebees and all ants), care for offspring has led to the emergence of a social way of life. At social insects in one nest all individuals of one or several generations are united, and different individuals carry out different functions. By the way, insects live together from at least two successive generations - maternal and child. Most often, a hymenoptera society is a single family consisting of the offspring of one female.

Drawing: forest red ants and anthill

The main feature of the society of stinging hymenoptera is that it consists of such members, each of which cannot exist without the others. Such a society necessarily includes three groups: fertile females(or queens, the so-called queens), performing the functions of reproduction and resettlement; males involved only in reproduction - drones; workers, which account for the implementation of all work on the care of females and males, as well as offspring. Workers build and guard nests, supply all family members with food. In social insects, workers are sterile females. In bees and wasps they are winged, in ants they are always wingless.

Role of Stinging Hymenoptera

The role of the stinging Hymenoptera is truly enormous. Bees and bumblebees are one of the main pollinators of flowering plants, and wasps and ants are our allies, destroying a myriad of harmful insects to feed their offspring.

Insects can be found everywhere - in the urban stone jungle, in the meadow, in the forest, tundra, desert, and even where there is eternal snow and cold. Sometimes we don't notice how beautiful the world. Millions of different living organisms live on the globe. In this article, we will analyze in detail what a hymenopteran insect is. Consider all subspecies and their features.

general information

Hymenoptera insects include wasps, bees, bumblebees, ants and others. Few people know that they all live in separate communities, where there is only one main insect. Surprisingly, all responsibilities are evenly distributed among them. In each collective, a certain insect is responsible for one action. It is believed that this category of insects lives in absolutely all corners of the planet.

The species of hymenoptera are quite different from each other. There are only two varieties - sessile-bellied and stalked-bellied. The first includes more primitive insects that feed on organic matter.

Reproduction features

The insect order Hymenoptera is distinguished by a kind of concept of sex establishment. Termites, for example, which belong to a different species, do not have this feature. In the Hymenoptera family, as a rule, there is only one queen. In the first half of her life, she makes only one mating flight, stocking up on seminal fluid for the entire period of her life, which is about 10 years.

The female uses the collected seminal fluid regularly to fertilize the eggs that move along her genital tract. It is worth noting that not all eggs undergo fertilization. They may also have a single or double set of chromosomes.

hymenoptera insect does not have a father. All members of the same family have the same set of chromosomes received from the female. Only the uterus itself has a pair of them.

Structural features

As we said earlier, Hymenoptera have two pairs of wings. As a rule, the anterior ones are longer than the posterior ones. Antennae are located on the head of a hymenopteran insect. Each subspecies has its own peculiarity of structure. Their number ranges from 2 to 70. Eyes are also located on the head, which have a rather complex structure. Surprisingly, some ants see absolutely nothing. They find their way to their nest thanks to the scent of pheromones left behind.

The ant is a small hymenopteran insect. The number of their species is more than 8 thousand. It is believed that it is ants that are most similar to humans.

Ants never eat what they find. They deliver food to the anthill. Those individuals that bring nothing are killed by insects. Ants regularly stock up on food for the winter. During the day they take it outside to dry, and at night they bring it back. It is believed that ants have a premonition of the weather, since they never dry their workpieces before it rains.

Few people know, but American scientists found the oldest representative on one of the beaches. The body of the ant was located in amber. According to experts, the age of the find is about 130 million years. Surprisingly, ants are the only living organisms, with the exception of humans, that raise domestic animals, namely aphids.

Ants are believed to have the largest brain on earth relative to their body. Another interesting fact is the lack of sleep. Surprisingly, the hymenopteran insect of the ant order does not feel the need for this.

Few people know, but worker ants live up to 3 years, but females - up to 20. It is also known that they are able to lift a load that exceeds their weight by 100 times. When an ant dies from poisoning, it always falls exclusively on its right side.

bumblebees

Bumblebees are also hymenopterous insects. Representatives of this subspecies are distinguished by thick hair on the body, which has a bright color. Bumblebees are divided into three categories: queen, workers, and drones. It is worth noting that the latter do not have the ability to sting. Unlike wasps, bumblebees only use their stingers for self-defense.

Reaction human body it depends only on individual features. Most of the time it is not dangerous. An allergic reaction to a bumblebee sting is quite rare. Most often, only 1% of humanity is affected by it, and, as a rule, this happens with a second bite.

It is known that, unlike other Hymenoptera, bumblebees do not fly out in search of food in bad weather. They also have the most favored plants. Bumblebees can pollinate hard-to-reach flower bowls that are not subject to wasps.

Unlike other insects, bumblebees have a body temperature 20-30 degrees higher than Environment. This is due to the active work of the pectoral muscles.

Are Hymenoptera Benefits?

Perhaps everyone knows that all living organisms on our planet are interconnected. Each insect has a specific benefit the globe and the person himself. The order of Hymenoptera is no exception. For example, ants, as we know, build houses not only on the surface of the soil, but also under it. Due to this, the soil becomes looser and filled with large quantity oxygen. Ants also destroy a huge number of pests every year.

Hymenoptera insects - bees, wasps and hornets are of great benefit. Thanks to the products of their processing, a huge number of medicines were created. For example, many medications contain honey and propolis.

An interesting fact about the representative of hymenoptera insects

In the 20th century, a famous scientist conducted a number of interesting studies. It is known that the bumblebee has rather small wings (relative to its body). The scientist applied the calculation of the aircraft to the insect. He found out that the bumblebee flies against all the laws of aerodynamics and physics.

Today, this topic is being a large number of disputes. Many scientists refute the hypothesis and prove that the bumblebee flies with good reason. However, these versions have not yet been fully studied.

Hymenoptera and education

As we found out earlier, hymenoptera insects are of great benefit. About the features of their structure and life activity they tell the students of the 7th grade at school. The purpose of the lesson is to show how important the insect order Hymenoptera is. Grade 7 after the end of the lesson should know the structural features of this species and their role for the human body and nature. It is the responsibility of the teacher to check the assimilation of material about hymenoptera after some time.

Ichneumonoids

In some queens, the ovipositor is filled with poison. Due to this feature, they destroy pests of agricultural crops. A larva hatches from an egg in the body of another insect. At first, she feeds on the body fat of the victim, and when their supply runs out, she begins to eat vital organs. By the time the larva begins to create a cocoon for itself, as a rule, the victim dies.

Chalcides

Watch a video tutorial on the topic Hymenoptera insects.

Hymenoptera- these are insects with complete transformation, that is, the following stages are present in their development cycle - egg, larva, pupa and adult insect or imago.

Hymenoptera have two pairs of wings, the first pair being larger than the first. The wings are located on the second and third thoracic segments and have many veins (webs), hence the name Hymenoptera.

Hymenoptera have two pairs of wings

The head is movably connected to the body, on the head there is a mouth apparatus, which, depending on the type and method of feeding of the insect, can be of gnawing, gnawing-licking or lacquering types. Also on the head are two antennae.

The wasp belongs to the order Hymenoptera

Hymenoptera insects include:

• bumblebees
• bees
• ants
• riders

honey bee

One of the members of the order Hymenoptera is honey bee. Bees are collective insects that live in large families. There can be up to 70 thousand insects in a family. The family has a large female - the uterus, males - drones and worker bees - underdeveloped females. The ovipositor of worker bees is turned into a sting, which is arranged in such a way that after the attack of the bee, the sting gets stuck in the body of the victim and breaks out along with part internal organs resulting in the death of the bee.

The female has high ability to reproduce, she lays up to a thousand eggs a day. In spring, the female lays eggs, one in each cell of the honeycomb, worker bees mature in small cells, haploid males in larger cells, and future queens in the largest cells. After the eggs hatch into larvae, the worker bees begin to feed them. royal jelly, which is secreted by special glands in their upper jaws. Worker bees continue to feed queen bees with royal jelly all their lives, and larvae of worker bees and drones - 5 days, after which they begin to feed them with perga. Perga is a mixture of pollen and honey. Honey is formed in the crop of worker bees from nectar. Pollen sticks to the hairs covering the body of the bees when they fly from flower to flower, then they collect it in baskets located on the last pair of legs. Inside the cells of the honeycomb, the larvae build a cocoon and pupate, young bees emerge from the pupae. Before leaving the new queen cell, the old queen with a part of the worker bees leaves the hive and forms a new one, this process is called swarming. After leaving the cocoon, the young queen flies out of the hive along with the drones, fertilization occurs, after which she returns to the hive. In the seminal receptacles of the queen bee, the spermatozoa remain alive for up to several months. The behavior of bees is based on instincts, the instincts include building honeycombs, caring for larvae, preparing for wintering.

Ants are another member of the Hymenoptera order. Ants are also social insects, they live in families consisting of several thousand insects. There are winged individuals in the family - these are founding females and males. The bulk of the family are wingless worker ants - underdeveloped females. Fertilization takes place outside the anthill, after fertilization, the males die, and the females lose their wings and return to the anthill and begin to lay eggs. The larvae emerge from the eggs, which then pupate, and young ants emerge from the pupa. In winter, ants live in the underground part of the anthill, where a constant temperature is maintained.