stinging insect

stinging insect

Entomology A hymenopteran that stings Types Aphids–eg, honeybees, bumblebees; vespids–eg, hornets, yellow jackets; wasps; stinging apparatus consists of a venom-filled sac attached to a barbed stinger; the multiple barbs on the honeybee's stinger cause it to detach, resulting in the honeybee's death; the vespid stinger has fewer barbs, allowing it to sting many times. See Hymenopteran hypersensitivity, Venom.