For most people, the word “wasp” elicits a scary yet confusing image. Most people will often confuse a wasp with a bee. Well, wasps are slender with a particularly narrow waist. Their bodies are shiny and smooth, and they have six extremely slim legs. One question usually abounds in the minds of most people, are wasps furry or are they fluffy?
Wasps are neither furry nor fluffy insects. They have little to no hair on their bodies. Rather than being necessarily hairy, the bodies of wasps are smooth and shiny and are lined by tiny bristles. The tiny hairs they do have are so small they cannot be seen by the naked eye.
In this article, we will have a look at whether wasps have hair, whether hornets have hair, the hairy difference between wasps and bees as well as whether wasps carry pollen. So if you are as curious about all this as I was, this article is for you. Let’s dive into this topic!
Do Wasps Have Hair?
Identifying wasps can be a difficult undertaking if you don’t have appropriate professional training. This is because oftentimes wasps are mistaken for other stinging insects like bees.
There are over 30,000 wasp species all around the world, each with distinct characteristics and features. More species are still being discovered. Of course, it is not possible to cover all of them, but we will take a closer look at the most common ones.
One of the most noticeable features of wasps that people are usually aware of is the thin waistline. Wasp’s abdomens narrow before connecting to the thorax. They also have skinny, cylindrical legs that are unmistakable.
But one thing that most enthusiasts usually ponder about is whether wasps have hair on their bodies. For years this has been a confusing topic for many people, even having some experts disagree with one another on account of this.
Wasps have smooth bodies that appear to be sleek and shiny. Rather than being necessarily hairy, the smooth body of wasps is lined with tiny bristles.
To answer the question, wasps have very little hairs on their bodies. But generally, these hairs are too tiny and minute to be seen by the naked eye.
To see this anatomical character on a wasp you will need a high-powered hand lens or microscope. Wasps are less hairy than other insects and the tiny hairs they do possess are simple (unbranched). At times, some wasps may even lack hair (even tiny hairs) on their bodies.
Wasps are less hairy overall and they don’t have pollen-collecting hairs on their legs or abdomen.
Do Hornets Have Hair?
Hornets and yellowjackets are very easy to confuse because they both belong to the wasp family (Vespinae). Because of this, there are many similarities in their appearance.
Hornets also have three body parts and a thin waist, as well as six thin legs and often a distinctive yellow color.
The major difference between wasps and hornets is in size and behavior. Mostly, hornets are bigger than normal yellowjackets and can reach quite impressive 2 inches of length. They also move much slower and smoother and are way less aggressive than yellowjackets.
Hornets are impressive but harmless.
But now that we have had a look at some of the distinguishing features of hornets, one question still abounds; do they have hair?
There are various types of hornets such as the bald-faced hornet, European hornet, and Asian hornet. One thing that these hornets have in common is that they do have some hair, although very little.
All in all, hornets differ from wasps in that while wasps have tiny hairs and sometimes no hair at all, hornets have some hair but very little of it.
Wasps and Bees: The Hairy Difference
It’s usually quite easy to mistake bees for wasps and vice versa. Bees and wasps are in fact very closely related to one another. They both belong to the order Hymenoptera. It’s hard to immediately differentiate a bee from a wasp. This case holds when it comes to differentiating them in terms of the coating on their bodies, particularly the hairs.
Bees are visibly furry insects. They have pollen-collecting hairs on their bodies. Some species of bees such as the Honeybee and Solitary bee have short hairs while others like the Bumblebee have long hairs. Female bees will have hairs on their bodies, legs, and bellies.
Wasps on the other hand have very little hair and in some species, there is no hair at all. These hairs are quite tiny and are impossible to see with the naked eye. Wasps have shiny and smooth bodies.
So in essence, while bees have visibly furry bodies, wasps have smooth, shiny, and sleek bodies with very little to no hair.
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Do Wasps Carry Pollen and How?
As we have already discussed, wasps have very little to no hair on their bodies. Bees have hairs on their bodies and this enables them to carry pollen from one flower to another. But because wasps lack this hair, it’s only natural to wonder whether they carry pollen and if they do, how so!
For starters, wasps do carry pollen. Rather than collecting pollen outside of their bodies, they do it internally using their crop.
Wasps carry pollen in their crops and regurgitate it along with nectar when they are provisioning the cells of their nest. A crop is a thin-walled expanded portion of the alimentary canal. It is found in the foregut of insects.
