RES Handbook Vol 6 Part 3b. Hymenoptera - Aculeata (Scolioidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea)

The following account deals with three superfamilies, Scolioidea, Vespoidea and Sphecoidea, of the British Hymenoptera, Aculeata. There has been no complete work on these groups since Saunders (1896). It will be found that the Handbook introducing the Hymenoptera (Richards, 1956; revised edition 1977) defines most of the terms used; any others are illustrated or defined in the present work. The distribution of the species is given only in broad outline since our knowledge is certainly incomplete. Subspecies are not mentioned when (as in all but one relevant example) only the nominotypical subspecies occurs in Britain. Similarly, subgenera are not indicated when only the typical one is British. In most aculeates, the male has 13 antennal segments and the female 12 (many exceptions in the Formicidae and in the Sphecidae: Crabroninae); the male normally has 7 visible gastral tergites and the female 6.