Like termites, ants live in large colonies with a winged queen and king, wingless workers, and sometimes soldier ants. Their nests have separate chambers for eggs, larvae and sometimes even food stores.
Bees nest underground or in hollow trees and other small spaces. They feed on pollen and nectar which they collect from flowers using their long tongues.
Wasps are carnivores. Some solitary-living wasps lay their eggs on or inside hosts, often butterfly or moth caterpillars. The larvae feed on the host as they grow, usually killing it in the process. Other wasps build nests from mud, or paper nests made out of chewed-up wood. These kinds of wasps bring their insect prey to the nest to be fed to the grub-like larvae.
Unlike a queen bee, which always has workers in attendance, a queen wasp finds a nest site by herself and raises the first brood of workers. The workers then continue the nest-building and other tasks.
The black and yellow stripes of bees and wasps are a warning sign to predators. Both bees and wasps have a sharp, pointed sting on their abdomen which injects painful venom into an attacker’s skin. Honeybees defending their nests are able to sting only once, as the act of stinging also kills them.
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