@futurebird @gavi Insect taxonomy drives me crazy....

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tuban_muzuru

@futurebird @gavi

Insect taxonomy drives me crazy. Are all the ants under Formicidae?

Like 10 November at 2:04 | Wall-to-wall | Open on ohai.social

7 comments

myrmepropagandist

@tuban_muzuru @gavi

Yes. But there are a number of wingless wasps that have "ant" in their common name.

And of course all ants *are* wasps.

10 November at 2:06 | Open on sauropods.win

Bruce Heerssen

@futurebird @tuban_muzuru @gavi
Do you know if the entire wasp family (clade? I don't know the right term) started out as flying insects, and then some lost their wings and became ants? Or was there some other evolutionary path?

10 November at 2:12 | Open on darkmoon.social

myrmepropagandist

@bruce @tuban_muzuru @gavi

The common ancestor of bees, ants and other wasps absolutely had wings. And that's why queen ants tend to nearly always have wings, as do most of the male wingless wasps.

10 November at 2:14 | Open on sauropods.win