Aculeata is an infraorder of Hymenoptera containing ants, bees, and stinging wasps.

It is theorized that the possession of a venomous sting was important in the repeated evolution of eusociality within Hymenoptera.

The oldest aculeates are known from the Late Jurassic Karabastau Formation of Kazakhstan, represented by the family Bethylonymidae, which may be para- or polyphyletic.

The Aculeata are a monophyletic, or good natural group, containing all the descendants of a single common ancestor.

The Aculeata are therefore maintained as a taxon, either at infraorder or division rank or as an unranked clade.