Invertebrate / Hymenoptera / Bees, wasps, and ants

Broken-belted male bumblebee in flight.  Illustration for Swedish packaging company

Red-tailed bumblebee Bombus lapidarius worker showing orange abdominal segments

Hairy wood ant Formica lugubris, showing species-specific long hairs.  These reach up to and beyond the eyes.

Slave making or Blood red wood ant Formica sanguinea.  These wood ants are far redder than the other wood ant species.

Worker ant F. aquilonia Scottish wood ant, in profile.  Workers are all haplodiploid, sharing much of their genetic material with their mother, the queen. This supports their eusocial colonies.

Sabre wasp Rhyssa persuasoria using her long ovipositor to lay an egg with her long terminal cerci pointing upwards

White tailed bumble bee Bombus lucorum life cycle showing adult feeding, underground nest, feeding on thistle, feeding on foxglove, egg, emerging from egg,

Honey bee Apis mellifera detailed illustration of the worker

White tailed bumble bee Bombus lucorum showing fluffy hairs and stripes, wings outstretched, cut to white

Broken-belted bumble bee Bombus soroeensis, showing the bumble bee in flight, male bee

Oxeye daisy Leucanthemum vulgare & buff-tailed bumblebee Bombus terrestris

Cornflowers Centaurea cyanus in a meadow with Red-tailed Bumblebee Bombus lapidarius

Wasps and bees hibernating in cracks in an old wall, showing common UK bee and social wasp species in the mortar of a church wall

Garden bumblebee cut to white showing markings and shaggy long hair

Orchid bee Euglossa cybelia with Cycnoches guttulatum orchid.  Illustration from “The Hidden Universe” by Alexandre Antonelli

Cycnoches guttulatum orchid with species specific pollinator Euglossa cybelia orchid bee.  Illustration from The Hidden Universe: Adventures in Biodiversity by Alexandre Antonelli

Soldier Termite, generic image of this isopteran Illustration from “30 Animals that made us smarter” by Patrick Ayree (BBC Books).

Trapdoor jaw ant Odontomachus bauri head showing mandibles with trigger hairs From “30 Animsl that made us Smarter” by Patrick Aryee (BBC Books)

Wood ant nest.  This nest belongs to the Southern red wood ant, Formica rufa.  Wood ant nests do differ between species, although it can be hard to tell them apart.

Nest and budded smaller nest of wood ant.  This budding often happens with wood ant species.

Mating during nuptial flight Formica rufa Southern Red wood ant queen and male

Worker caste of the Narrow headed ant Formica exsecta.  This species have curved backs to their heads.

Slender ant Leptothorax acervorum worker.  This ant is only 3mm, and although similar to the Shining Guest ant, has a darker and less smooth head.

Scottish wood ant Formica aquilonia worker. These ants are only modestly hairy.