The main intention of this website is to educate the general public and to share info on insects of the Aculeate Hymenoptera, otherwise known to most people as wasps and bees, the insects feared for their painful stings. The main reason for the creation of this website is the lack of detailed but yet easily understood information on these insects available to the layman. Apart from the well-known honeybees and some of the European social wasps, there is relatively little info regarding the wasps and bees in general which is on a layman's scale and available to the public. Most detailed information on the various species of hornets, paper wasps and solitary wasps and bees is specialized and only of use to professional entomologists and scientists. I aim to provide information which is sufficiently detailed and in-depth, yet easily understood by the layman.

The predecessor to this site was set up in 2002, with the unimaginative name of "Asian Bee and Wasp Website" on the free web-hosting platform Geocities. In 2006, the site was revamped, given its own domain name and renamed "Asian Hornet Net", due to its focus on Vespid wasps, the hornets and social wasps most feared by the public, since these pose the greatest danger to us in general. After a long period of being offline or not functioning properly due to problems with the server and web host, it is now back ten years later, in 2016, with a new name "Aculeates of Asia", as I am covering all other types of wasps and bees as well. I was born in Singapore and have lived for in Hong Kong for many years. These are among the most modern, urbanized areas in Asia, but yet, I have been able to find a wealth of species, and still I am finding and observing new things all the time! Much of the information on this site comes from my first-hand observations, and are thus largely limited to these areas. Therefore, the focus of this site will be on species in Asia, particularly Singapore and Hong Kong, as these are the species I have personal experience with and photos of. However, I shall strive to include much more general info and feature species from all over the world as well, if time permits, and even information and photos on insects which commonly mimic (and are often confused with) bees and wasps.

A lot of misinformation has been spread about these insects, leading to many people fearing them and wanting to unnecessarily exterminate them. Therefore, I hope that this site will provide another point of view regarding them, and show the layman that they are not vicious creatures waiting to attack and fatally injure unsuspecting victims. I also hope to have contact with people who are interested in wasps and bees or are researching them, so I can learn more myself.

Where should I go next?

If you are looking for info on certain species, I would suggest you visit the various sections on various social and solitary bees and wasps. A good place to start for an introduction to wasps and their ways would be the social (Vespid) wasp section.

You can navigate by using the links at the left frame. If you need to return to the home page at any time, simply click either one of the two "Home" signs on the left frame or the top frame.

Disclaimer and terms of use - Please take a moment to read this!!!

If you are not familiar with scientific terms and descriptions of insect anatomy, please take a moment to read this! It will help greatly with regard to most of the articles on this site.

If scientific names, taxonomy and classification appear quite foreign to you, please take a moment to read this! It will also be of great help with the names used throughout this site.

About the author and this site. Please take a moment to read this.

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