Wasp trivia

Wasps have a scary face, but in fact, they are terrifying.

They will attack their own kind if food is scarce and will also use larvae from the same nest as food.

They are famous for their poisonous stingers, but their origins are even scarier: they were specialised egg-laying tubes that laid eggs for parasitism. It has now evolved into an organ called the poison needle because it allows them to raise their young safely in the nest. Of course, for this reason, the venom needle is an organ that only the female has.

Males, therefore, cannot sting because they do not have an egg-laying tube.

Incidentally, in the bee species themselves, these parasitic wasps are a fairly major ecological group. The wasp species are also surprisingly diverse. The total number of wasp species is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands.

Most wasps are solitary. Females live and reproduce independently, rather than in social colonies.

Certain species, such as the jewel hornet, have a venom that manipulates the behaviour of their victims for their own benefit, and use zombie-like creatures to host their offspring. videos can be easily found on jewel hornet, but they are quite gruesome, so I’ll refrain from attaching them…

Many wasps play an important role in controlling pest populations by preying on insects such as caterpillars and beetles. Of course, they also play a role as pollinators, sucking nectar and carrying pollen from flower to flower.

They tend to pick up on the aspects that are harmful to people, but there is no telling what impact the indiscriminate extermination of these wasps will have on the ecosystem, including humans.

Some wasps, such as the giant hornet, form special structures (nests) in plants that provide both food and shelter for their larvae.

The wasp is also the name of the US military’s F18 fighter aircraft.

Wasps have a complex social structure, with the queen, worker and male wasps having distinct roles.

Females of many wasp species can determine the sex of their offspring by producing males when they lay unfertilised eggs and females when they lay fertilised eggs.

Certain wasp species, such as the fig wasp, co-evolve with their host plants to the extent that they cannot survive without one or the other.

They are also natural enemies, although they may attack honeybee nests. Honey bees can attach themselves to wasps in groups and use heat to knock them out.

So, does the temperature kill the bees too? The principle behind this is that bees can withstand temperatures of about 50 degrees Celsius, while wasps have a limit of about 45 degrees Celsius, about the same as a human bath. So the bees use that difference of about 5 degrees in heat resistance temperature.