Hymenopterans

Anatomy Bombus muscorum drinking nectar with its long proboscis Hymenopterans range in size from very small to large insects, and usually have two pairs of wings.

Habits intermediate between those of the herbivorous and parasitoid forms are shown in some hymenopterans, which inhabit the galls or nests of other insects, stealing their food, and eventually killing and eating the occupant.

The form of thelytoky in hymenopterans is a kind of automixis in which two haploid products (proto-eggs) from the same meiosis fuse to form a diploid zygote.

The larvae of the more ancestral hymenopterans resemble caterpillars in appearance, and like them, typically feed on leaves.