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Sphecoid vs Spheroid - What's the difference?

sphecoid | spheroid |

As adjectives the difference between sphecoid and spheroid

is that sphecoid is of or pertaining to wasps formerly classified in the superfamily Sphecoidea (corresponding to all wasps in Apoidea), now sometimes treated as the series Spheciformes while spheroid is of a shape similar to a squashed sphere.

As a noun spheroid is

a solid of revolution generated by rotating an ellipse about its major (prolate), or minor (oblate) axis.

sphecoid

English

Adjective

(-)
  • Of or pertaining to wasps formerly classified in the superfamily Sphecoidea (corresponding to all wasps in Apoidea), now sometimes treated as the series Spheciformes.
  • * 1975 , , 2000, page 428,
    • On morphological grounds they fall closest to the sphecoid' wasps, although the lack of an adequate fossil record has made it impossible to pinpoint the exact ancestral phyletic line. In a word, the Apoidea can be loosely characterized as ' sphecoid wasps that have specialized on collecting pollen instead of insect prey as larval food.
  • * 1982 , Albert T. Finnamore, The Sphecoidea of Southern Quebec (Hymenoptera) , page 3,
    • The literature pertaining to sphecoid wasps in Quebec may be divided into four broad categories: species surveys, biological studies, taxonomic studies and reference works.
  • * 2000 , Charles Duncan Michener, The Bees of the World , Volume 1, page 2,
    • Bees are similar to one group of wasps, the sphecoid wasps, but are quite unlike other Aculeata.

    Usage notes

    The term pertains to a classification, Spheciformes or Sphecoidea, that is paraphyletic and represents all members of Apoidea that are not bees. The classification has fallen out of use, but the adjective is still sometimes used, often in the collocation sphecoid wasp . Bees are now thought to have evolved from wasps of a subgroup of Apoidea (and therefore such a grouping of wasps that excludes bees must be paraphyletic).

    See also

    * vespoid

    spheroid

    English

    (wikipedia spheroid)

    Alternative forms

    * (archaic)

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • A solid of revolution generated by rotating an ellipse about its major (prolate), or minor (oblate) axis.
    • UFOs are reported as being either oblate (saucer-shaped) or prolate (cigar-shaped) spheroids .

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Of a shape similar to a squashed sphere.