Editing Apocrita (section)

{{Short description|Suborder of insects containing wasps, bees, and ants}}
{{Automatic taxobox
| name = Apocrita
| oldest_fossil = Early Jurassic
| image = Seleucus cuneiformis f.jpg
| image_caption = ''[[Seleucus cuneiformis]]'' ([[Ichneumonidae]])
| image2 = Vespula germanica Horizontalview Richard Bartz.jpg
| image2_caption = ''[[Vespula germanica]]'' ([[Vespidae]])
| taxon = Apocrita
| authority = [[Carl Eduard Adolph Gerstaecker|Gerstaecker]], 1867<ref name="Gerstaecker_1867">{{cite journal |last=Gerstaecker |first=C.E.A. |title=Ueber die Gattung Oxybelus Latr. und die bei Berlin vorkommenden Arten derselben |journal=Zeitschrift für die Gesammten Naturwissenschaften |date=1867 |volume=30 |issue=7 |pages=1–144 |url=https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/item/102864#page/17/mode/1up |language=de}}</ref>
| subdivision_ranks = Subgroups
| subdivision = *[[Stephanoidea]]
*[[Ceraphronoidea]]
*[[Evanioidea]]
*[[Ichneumonoidea]]
*[[Proctotrupomorpha]]
**[[Cynipoidea]]
**[[Chalcidoidea]]
**[[Diaprioidea]]
**[[Proctotrupoidea]]
**[[Platygastroidea]]
**[[Mymarommatoidea]]
*[[Trigonaloidea]]
*[[Megalyroidea]]
*[[Aculeata]]
}}

'''Apocrita''' is a [[suborder (biology)|suborder]] of [[insect]]s in the order [[Hymenoptera]]. It includes [[wasp]]s, [[bee]]s, and [[ant]]s, and consists of many families. It contains the most advanced hymenopterans and is distinguished from [[Sawfly|Symphyta]] by the narrow "waist" ([[petiole (insect)|petiole]]) formed between the first two segments of the actual [[abdomen]]; the first abdominal segment is fused to the thorax, and is called the [[propodeum]]. Therefore, it is general practice, when discussing the body of an apocritan in a technical sense, to refer to the [[mesosoma]] and [[metasoma]] (or [[Gaster (insect anatomy)|gaster]]) rather than the "thorax" and "abdomen", respectively. The evolution of a constricted waist was an important adaption for the [[parasitoid]] lifestyle of the ancestral apocritan, allowing more maneuverability of the female's [[ovipositor]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Grimaldi |first1=David |author1-link=David Grimaldi (entomologist) |last2=Engel |first2=Michael S. |author2-link=Michael S. Engel |title=Evolution of the Insects |date=2005 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-82149-0 |page=414}}</ref> The [[ovipositor]] either extends freely or is retracted, and may be developed into a stinger for both defense and paralyzing prey. Larvae are legless and blind, and either feed inside a host (plant or animal) or in a nest cell provisioned by their mothers.

Apocrita has historically been split into two groups, [[Parasitica]] and [[Aculeata]]. Aculeata is a [[clade]] whose name is in standard use. "Parasitica" is not a clade, as it is [[paraphyletic]]: the clade would contain the Aculeata. "Parasitica" is therefore a rankless grouping in many present classifications, if it appears at all.

<!--Parasitica-->
Parasitica comprises the majority of hymenopteran insects, its members living as [[parasitoids]].<ref name=Peters/><ref name=Heraty>{{Cite journal |last1=Heraty |first1=John |last2=Ronquist |first2=Fredrik |last3=Carpenter |first3=James M. |last4=Hawks |first4=David |last5=Schulmeister |first5=Susanne |last6=Dowling |first6=Ashley P. |last7=Murray |first7=Debra |last8=Munro |first8=James |last9=Wheeler |first9=Ward C. |title=Evolution of the hymenopteran megaradiation |journal=Molecular Phylogenetics and Evolution |volume=60 |issue=1 |pages=73–88 |doi=10.1016/j.ympev.2011.04.003 |pmid=21540117 |year=2011 |bibcode=2011MolPE..60...73H |url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2f33z9mz }}</ref> Most species are small, with the ovipositor adapted for piercing. In some hosts, the parasitoids induce [[Metamorphosis (biology)|metamorphosis]] prematurely, and in others it is prolonged. There are even species that are [[hyperparasite]]s, or parasitoids on other parasitoids.<ref name="Sullivan 2009 pp. 486–488">{{cite book | last=Sullivan | first=Daniel J. | title=Encyclopedia of Insects | chapter=Hyperparasitism | publisher=Elsevier | year=2009 | isbn=978-0-12-374144-8 | doi=10.1016/b978-0-12-374144-8.00138-7 | pages=486–488}}</ref> The Parasitica lay their [[Egg (biology)|egg]]s inside or on another insect (egg, larva or pupa) and their larvae grow and develop within or on that host. The host is nearly always killed. Many [[parasitic wasp|parasitic hymenopterans]] are used as [[biological control]] agents to control pests, such as [[caterpillar]]s, [[Hemiptera|true bugs and hoppers]], [[fly|flies]], and [[weevil]]s.<ref>{{cite web |title=Parasitoid Wasps (Hymenoptera) |url=https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/insects/parasitoid-wasps-hymenoptera |publisher=University of Maryland |access-date=6 June 2016 |archive-date=27 August 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160827072031/https://extension.umd.edu/hgic/insects/parasitoid-wasps-hymenoptera |url-status=dead }}</ref>

<!--Aculeata-->
Aculeata is a [[monophyletic]] group that includes those species in which the female's [[ovipositor]] is modified into a [[stinger (organ)|stinger]] to inject [[venom]]. Groups within Aculeata include the familiar ants, bees, and various types of parasitic and predatory wasps; it also includes all of the [[eusocial|social]] hymenopterans.<ref name="BranstetterDanforth2017"/>
Among the nonparasitic and nonsocial Aculeata, larvae are fed with captured prey (typically alive and paralyzed) or may be fed pollen and nectar. The [[Eusociality|social]] Aculeata feed their young prey ([[paper wasp]]s and [[hornet]]s), or [[pollen]] and [[nectar]] (bees), or perhaps seeds, [[fungi]], or nonviable eggs (ants).