Bees, wasps and ants
Despite looking different in many ways the bees, ants and wasps are all part of the insect order Hymenoptera, although often having different life histories. For bees the way of life can vary from the classic honey bee collecting pollen for their larvae and living in large colonies to a huge number of solitary bees nesting alone in tunnels in the ground or in dead plant stems. There are even types of "cuckoo bees" that lay their eggs in other bees nests. Wasps are much maligned by many people but for the majority of the year a large number of the different wasp species prey on other insects, and so can be valuable pest control for flies, caterpillars or aphids amongst others. Within the wasps there will be a a mixture of solitary ground or aerial nesting species as well as the classic and well known social black and yellow wasps. The third main group are the ants, these are all highly social living in large colonies with a queen or multiple queens laying the eggs along with large numbers of workers who look after the eggs and forage in the surrounding area for food.
In this gallery
This gallery consists of a collection of images that have been taken of a small number of the various different species of bees, ants and wasps that are present in the wild in the UK. It includes the common honey bee working hard pollinating the flowers, along with various species of bumblebee including tree bumblebees and carder bees. Ants include close ups of various common red and black and species as well as the larger wood ants that frequent Exmoor.
All of the photographs in this galley have been taken of wild insects in their natural settings carrying out their normal behaviour. Where possible an identification I have tried to give and identification of the species in the description, although this has not always been possible to species level.
For more information
The world of bees, wasps and ants is a fascinating world both looking at their behaviour and social structures., if you want some more information then the Bees, Wasps and Ants recording society (BWARS) is a valuable resource and starting point for learning more