Bees and wasps are some of the more familiar members of the insect world to us apart from the ever favourite butterflies. Even though they are all around us we hardly tend to notice the different varieties of bees and wasps around us. This might partly be due to the smaller size when compared to butterflies. It might also be due to the fact that they have the ability to sting unlike the harmless butterflies.
Bees and wasps of India
Total species of bees worldwide:
The total number of species of bees worldwide comes to around 20000. While butterflies fill our imagination with their vivid colours and patterns , they make up only around 18000 species worldwide. All this pales in comparison to the wasps species worldwide which comes in at an whopping 75000 species worldwide. Many in the scientific world believe that even that 75000 number is a gross underestimate !
With that in perspective we are going to post pictures of all the bees and wasps that we are coming across in our journeys. Obviously we cannot even scratch the surface but even what little we came across is mind blowing.
Note: We are not entomologists to give an indepth species identification. We gathered names through online resources and our own gained knowledge.
Gallery of Bees and Wasps found in India:
Red Dwarf-Honey Bee / Apis floreaLesser Banded Hornet / Vespa affinisWhite Combed-Sweat Bee / Lasioglossum albescensSlender-scaped Carpenter Bee / Xylocopa tenuiscapaYellow carpenter bee / Subgenus KoptortosomaMesostenina – Ichneumonid WaspsSubgenus Pithitis / Small Carpenter Bees / Genus CeratinaPotter and Mason Wasps / Subfamily EumeninaePhimenes flavopictus / Yellow and black waspGiant Honey Bee / Apis dorsataBraconid-Wasps-Family-BraconidaeCrown-Wasps-Family-StephanidaeGenus-Solenura-waspSceliphron-madraspatanum-mud-dauber-waspsSubfamily-Agathidinae-waspThread-waisted-Sand-Wasps
Banded-Digger Bees / Subgenus ZonamegillaIndian Honey Bee / Apis cerana ssp. indicaDigger wasp / Genus SphexWindowed Carpenter / Xylocopa fenestrataYellow-headed Carpenter / Xylocopa ruficornisTarantula-hawk Wasps / Tribe PepsiniSmall Brown Paper Wasps / Genus RopalidiaPotter and Mason Wasps / Subfamily EumeninaeMetallic Bluish-green Cuckoo Wasp / Chrysis angolensisGreater Banded Hornet / Vespa tropicaCloak-and-Dagger-Bees-Genus-ThyreusEnsign-Wasps-Family-EvaniidaeGenus-Liris-wasps-indiaGenus-Trypoxylon-waspsSubfamily-Tiphiina waspSubgenus-Hoplonomia beeYellow-marked-Small-Carpenter-Bees-Subgenus-Ceratinidia
There are more to come in coming days as we are in the process of identifying more of the wasps and bees we have seen till now. Next time you are outside please do have a closer look at these little ones.
