vespoid wasp

The Vespoid superfamily, also known as Vespoidea, encompasses a diverse group of insects within the order Hymenoptera, commonly referred to as true wasps. This superfamily includes the family Vespidae, which contains social wasps like hornets and yellow jackets, as well as other families such as spider wasps and velvet ants.12

Vespids are characterized by their slender bodies, narrow waists, and typically possess stingers. Social wasps, unlike solitary wasps, live in colonies with a caste system of queens, drones, and workers. They build nests from chewed plant material mixed with saliva, forming papery combs with vertical cells. These social wasps are often predatory or parasitic, feeding on insects or other arthropods, and their larvae consume insects or their hosts. The term "vespoid" itself means resembling or related to these wasps.234