The Hymenoptera range in size from minute (0.15mm) parasitic wasps that live their short lives inside butterfly eggs, to large and spectacular insects such as the Tarantula Hawk Wasps that capture and paralyse tarantulas and other large spiders to use as a living larder for their larvae. Some of the South American species are larger than hummingbirds!

Comprising over 100,000 species worldwide, the Hymenoptera are split into 2 suborders:

Symphyta Sawflies Considered to be the most primitive hymenoptera and, unlike the more advanced groups, lack the typical "waist" between the thorax and abdomen.

Apocrita Bees, Ants and Wasps Included in this group are some of the most highly structured social societies found anywhere in the animal kingdom.

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