Aculeata

Aculeata is an infraorder of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps. The name is a reference to the defining feature of the group, which is the modification of the ovipositor into a stinger. However, many members of the group cannot sting, either retaining the ovipositor, or having lost it altogether. A large part of the clade is parasitic.

Aculeata Temporal range: Late Jurassic–Recent PreꞒ Ꞓ O S D C P T J K Pg N
Vespula vulgaris
Scientific classification
Domain:	Eukaryota
Kingdom:	Animalia
Phylum:	Arthropoda
Class:	Insecta
Order:	Hymenoptera
Suborder:	Apocrita
Infraorder:	Aculeata (but see text)
Superfamilies
Apoidea Chrysidoidea Formicoidea Pompiloidea Scolioidea Tiphioidea Thynnoidea Vespoidea

This group includes all of the eusocial Hymenopterans. It is theorized that the possession of a venomous sting was important in the repeated evolution of eusociality within Hymenoptera.

The oldest aculeates are known from the Late Jurassic Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan, represented by the family Bethylonymidae, which may be para- or polyphyletic.^[1]

Classification

The use of the name Aculeata has a long history at the rank of infraorder or division. The Aculeata are a monophyletic, or good natural group, containing all the descendants of a single common ancestor. The Aculeata are therefore maintained as a taxon, either at infraorder or division rank or as an unranked clade.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Hymenoptera	Sawflies Orussoidea (wood wasps) Apocrita Stephanoidea Ichneumonoidea Proctotrupomorpha Aculeata Chrysidoidea (jewel wasps) Euaculeata Vespoidea (yellowjackets, paper wasps, hornets) Pompiloidea Thynnoidea Tiphioidea Scolioidea Formicoidea (ants) Apoidea (bees and sphecoid wasps) stinger  wasp waist  parasitoidism