Latin: Hymenoptera — Relevance to Fly Fishing:
Hymenoptera includes ants, bees, and wasps, insects that play vital roles in pollination, predation, and ecosystem balance.
On this map you see where there were observations of Ants, Bees, and Wasps around the world. This will give you an idea of the global distribution of this class. Note that a class can have many different families, and thousands of species.
Years 2000 until now, source: GBIF
The insect class Hymenoptera is one of the largest and most diverse groups of insects, with over 150,000 known species. This class is divided into two suborders, Symphyta and Apocrita, which are further divided into approximately 22 families and numerous genera. Some of the most well-known members of Hymenoptera include ants, bees, wasps, and sawflies.
Hymenoptera can be found in virtually every country around the world, thriving in a wide range of habitats such as forests, grasslands, wetlands, and urban environments.
The life cycle of Hymenoptera insects typically consists of four stages: egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The duration of each stage varies among species and can be influenced by factors such as temperature, humidity, and food availability.
After mating, female Hymenoptera lay their eggs in various substrates, depending on the species. Some lay eggs in plant tissues, while others deposit them in the nests of other insects. Upon hatching, the larvae feed voraciously, often on plant material or other insects, before entering the pupal stage. During this stage, the insect undergoes significant transformation, ultimately emerging as a fully-formed adult.
Most fly patterns are designed to imitate adult or larval stages of these insects. Some of the most popular Hymenoptera-inspired flies include:
There can be thousands of species within an order, and therefore lots of different flies imitating various of these species. Flies can also imitate different stages, for example larvae, pupae and adults.
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Each order has an indication of its relevance to fly fishing:
= Not so relevant
= Somewhat relevant
= Most relevant
Megaloptera
Coleoptera
Psocoptera
Archaeognatha
Lepidoptera
Trichoptera
Blattodea
Odonata
Dermaptera
Siphonaptera
Orthoptera
Neuroptera
Mantodea
Ephemeroptera
Mecoptera
Raphidioptera
Phasmida
Plecoptera
Thysanoptera
Hemiptera
Diptera
Strepsiptera
Embioptera
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