Thanks I don’t know that
2 Likes
Well, you might say then that birds are reptiles, and humans are fish. Sure bees evolved from apoid wasps and it’s reflected in changes of their systematics but they are still a well defined group and I haven’t read in any specialized literature that they would be called wasps.
Another thing is the problem with English term “wasp” itself, it’s somewhat confusing that there are a number of not too much related grups called wasps. Similar situation is with sawflies (they are not flies), buzzards (honey buzzard is not exactly buzzard)…
1 Like
As @jasonhernandez74 pointed out below, I think that the problem is not in the term “bees” (it’s quite well defined and used) but in the term “wasps”. That “wasp” is unclear and merges a number of unrelated species inside Hymenoptera, doesn’t mean that we should expand it even more. I don’t know whether it can be abandoned either, at least in not scientific language, as is so commonly used by non-biologists.
1 Like
I also just wanted to say that the two species you saw (Apis cerana indica and a yellow potter wasp) may quite likely fly a bit differently from one another, so once you get used to seeing them, their way of flying may help you tell which is which.
1 Like
This topic was automatically closed 60 days after the last reply. New replies are no longer allowed.