It's time for the talk: the wasps and the bees

The mascot of our local high school is the hornet. So I know what those look like in great detail; however, I wondered how different did a yellow jacket look compared to a hornet? So I looked for images on the internet. If you're like me, you'd like to know which is which.

1. Hornet

   

   source: c1.staticflickr.com

2. Yellow Jacket

   

   source: www.mikespestcontrol.net

Once I found these pictures, I kept looking. I found that there are more types of wasps than I realized:

1. American Pelecinid Wasp

   

   source: cdn.c.photoshelter.com

2. Asian Hornet

   

   source: wikimedia.org

3. Asian Predatory Wasp

   

   source: wikimedia.org

4. Black and Yellow Mud Dauber

   

   source: www.hmrprint.com

5. Black Flower Wasp

   

   source: wikimedia.org

6. Blue-Winged Wasp

   

   source: freepages.misc.rootsweb.ancestry.com

7. Cicada Killer

   

   source: media.cmgdigital.com

8. Common Thread Waisted Wasp

   

   source: sicloot.com

9. Cow Killer

   

   source: c7.staticflickr.com

10. Cuckoo Wasp

    

    source: cdn.c.photoshelter.com

11. Five-Banded Tiphiid Wasp

    

    source: bugguide.net

12. Four-Toothed Mason Wasp

    

    source: www.whatsthatbug.com

13. Great Golden Digger Wasp

    

    source: www.whatsthatbug.com

14. Horntail Wasp

    

    source: amazingnature.us

15. Ichneumon Wasp

    

    source: wikimedia.org

16. Leucospid Wasp

    

    source: entomacrographic.files.wordpress.com

17. Mud Dauber

    

    source: bounderrv.files.wordpress.com

18. Mutillid Wasp

    

    source: myrmecos.net

19. Northern Paper Wasp

    

    source: bugguide.net

20. Paper Wasp

    

    source: www.sutter-yubamvcd.org

21. Pepsis Wasp

    

    source: arizonadailyindependent.com

22. Pigeon Tremex

    

    source: bugtracks.files.wordpress.com

23. Potter Wasp

    

    source: gallery.kunzweb.net

24. Ruby-tailed Wasp

    

    source: www.mattcolephotography.co.uk

25. Spider Wasp

    

    source: media-2.web.britannica.com

26. Tarantula Hawk

    

    source: bugguide.net

27. Weevil Wasp

    

    source: i.ytimg.com

28. Yellow Paper Wasp

    

    source: www.genehanson.com

To complete the picture, I decided to look for pictures of bees. Bees have robust, hairy bodies with flat rear legs, whereas the bodies of wasps are slender with a narrow waist connecting the shiny thorax and abdomen. There are quite a variety of bees too.

1. American Bumble Bee

   

   source: a-z-animals.com

2. Augochlora Sweat Bee

   

   source: cdn.c.photoshelter.com

3. Cuckoo Bee

   

   source: static.comicvine.com

4. Eastern Carpenter Bee

   

   source: www.budgetpestcontrolpgh.com

5. Golden Northern Bumble Bee

   

   source: bugguide.net

6. Honey Bee

   

   source: www.mattcolephotography.co.uk

7. Longhorn Bee

   

   source: susanvogelmisicka.files.wordpress.com

8. Small Carpenter Bee

   

   source: energy.wisc.edu

9. Sweat Bee

   

   source: www.whatsthatbug.com

10. Tri-Colored Bumble Bee

    

    source: rtpi.org

11. Yellow-Faced Bumble Bee

    

    source: img02.deviantart.net

These are all ones I could find on the web. Have I missed any?

Speaking of wasps, check out the 3D models of wasps created using free Autodesk 123D software. For example, here's a hornet.

There are also 3D models for bees. Here's a Bumblebee:

Speaking of bees, here's a quadcopter designed using Autodesk Fusion 360:

Check out the Fusion 360 Gallery.

Learning about the wasps and the bees is alive in the lab.