Hunting wasp
Bearing this in mind, and that each of the superfamilies under discussion includes families other than those listed here, families that are in no way hunting wasps, consider the following, consulting the links and references for detailed discussion of the biology:Although it had long been realised that bees were in essence a natural grouping of wasps that fed primarily on nectar and pollen, it took the development of molecular biology to demonstrate the actual grouping of true bees with the following families of definitive hunting wasps.These cockroach wasps are a popular example of a primitive mode of hunting wasp behaviour; they do not build a secure nest for their prey plus its egg, but conceal it in the most convenient crack or burrow, in which respect their behaviour resembles that of some of the Bethylidae.A very large family with varied habits and a wide range of prey species. Crabronid species in some taxa concentrate on flies, others on bees, others on cicadas, but the overwhelming majority build tunnels, whether single or branched, with one or more larvae inside.These are a widely varied family, including the digger wasps and mud daubersThese are generally large wasps that hunt subterranean insects, usually beetle larvae. Commonly they do little to conceal the paralysed prey, but lay the egg on it underground.Another large and varied family. They include the social wasps such as paper wasps and hornets. These are hunting wasps in the sense that they hunt animal food, generally insects, but they do not subtly paralyse them; instead they more or less butcher them and carry the most nutritious portions back to the colony to feed the young progressively. Other Vespidae include the solitary potter wasps, that are classical examples of hunting wasps of the kind that build their nests out of mud. The Masarinae or pollen wasps are the major exception in the family in that they do not hunt at all, but instead feed their larvae pollen and nectar, as many members of the superfamily Apoidea do.
Cheating (biology)
Eusocial insects also serve as valuable tools in studying cheating. Eusocial insects behave cooperatively, where members of the community forgo reproduction to assist a few individuals to reproduce. Such model systems have potential for conflict of interest to arise among individuals, and thus also have potential for cheating to occur. Eusocial insects in the order Hymenoptera, which includes bees and wasps, exhibit good examples of conflicts of interest present in insect societies. In these systems, queen bees and wasps can mate and lay fertilized eggs that hatch into females. On the other hand, workers of most species in Hymenoptera can produce eggs, but cannot produce fertilized eggs due to loss of mating ability. Workers that lay eggs represent a cost for the colony because workers that lay eggs often do significantly less work, and thus negatively impact the health of the colony (for example: decreased amount of collected food, or less attention given to tending the queen's eggs). In this case, a conflict of interest arises between the workers and the colony. The workers should lay eggs in order to pass on their genes; however, as a colony, having only the queen reproduce leads to better productivity. If workers sought to pass their own genes by laying eggs, foraging activities would diminish, leading to decreased resources for the entire colony. This, in turn, can cause a tragedy of the commons, where selfish behavior lead to the depletion of resources, with long-term negative consequences for the group. However, in natural bee and wasp societies, only 0.01–0.1% and 1%, respectively, of the workers lay eggs, suggesting that strategies exist to combat cheating to prevent tragedy of the commons. These insect systems have given scientists opportunities to study strategies that keep cheating in check. Such strategies are commonly referred to as "policing" strategies, generally where additional costs are imposed on cheaters to discourage or eliminate cheating behaviors. For example, honeybees and wasps may eat eggs produced by workers. In some ant species and yellowjackets, policing may occur via aggression towards or killing egg-laying individuals to minimize cheating.