Bee vs. Wasp vs. Hornet: What’s the Difference?
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As winged insects go about the important business of pollinating plants, you may wonder whether the little guy that just landed on your arm is a bee, a wasp, a hornet, or even a yellow jacket—and whether it’s about to sting you. One quick way to identify bees vs. wasps vs. hornets: A bee can generally only sting you once, while hornets and wasps can sting multiple times.
Like all insects, including wasps and hornets, bees’ bodies have a head, thorax with six legs, and abdomen. Bees in particular have antennae, compound eyes, and mouth parts that allow them to bite and chew, and many species sport stiff hairs that pick up and transport pollen. Only female bees have stingers, which are actually modified egg-laying structures called ovipositors.
Bees are classified into seven taxonomic families in the clade Anthophila, numbering roughly 20,000 wild bee species across the globe. They evolved from wasps about 125 million years ago at the same time as flowering plants. Bees are vegetarian and eat flower nectar and pollen.