Evolutionary Scientists Demonstrated the Unique Capabilities of Paper Wasps To Learn and Make Social Distinctions

The University of Michigan evolutionary scientist Elizabeth Tibbetts and her colleagues have shown over the course of more than 20 years' worth of research that paper wasps, despite having tiny brains, have an outstanding ability for learning, memory, and social differences about others.

The study demonstrated that paper wasps can distinguish between members of their species based on differences in face markings, and that they are more hostile toward wasps with unusual markings.

Learning behavior of paper wasps

(Photo : Sandy Millar/Unsplash)

They demonstrated that paper wasps have an unusually strong memory and that they guide their behavior based on what they recall from earlier contacts with other wasps.

Additionally, they revealed the paper wasp as the first example of transitive inference, a nonvertebrate animal behavior that approaches logical reasoning.

Now, Tibbetts and her students are reporting the first evidence that paper wasps can form abstract concepts.

Strikingly, the wasps were also able to transfer what they learned through visual training into a different sensory modality: the sense of smell.

The study used laboratory tasks to test whether paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) could learn and apply one of the most basic abstract concepts: the idea of sameness and difference.

The wasps were trained to distinguish between pairs of visual or olfactory stimuli (two colored bits of paper, two photos of wasp faces, or two chemical odors) that were either identical or different.

One pair of stimuli was associated with a mild but unpleasant electrical shock, the other was not.

The capacity of the stinging insects to escape an electric shock by choosing the "right" pair the one linked to safety after being exposed to fresh pairs of stimuli (either identical or different) was then evaluated.

According to the researchers, the previously trained wasps selected the right option more than 80% of the time.

The team's research was presented online on July 20 in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B publication.

According to Tibbetts, a professor in the U-M Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, "our findings demonstrate the wasps understood the broad notion of sameness and difference and applied it to new samples and different sorts of stimuli," as per ScienceDaily.

Female paper wasps were gathered on their nests in the locations of Ann Arbor, Michigan, for the study.

The wasps and their nests were kept in the laboratory and fed waxworms, sugar, and water.

Individual wasps were trained and tested in a tiny chamber made of plexiglass and balsa wood to see if they could understand and use same-different notions.

The simultaneous two-item same-different task was used to train and evaluate the wasps.

The study included three different sorts of stimuli, including colorful paper, pictures of wasp faces, and the aromas of substances known as alkenes, which are similar to the fragrances that wasps use to recognize nestmates.

Also Read: Wasps; Friend or Foe?

Paper wasps

Small heads, medium-sized eyes, and medium-length antennae are the characteristics of paper wasps. The waist is quite tiny, and the body is lean, as per the Australian Museum.

Two sets of wings with a brown tinge are present, with the first pair being bigger.

Although mostly black, the abdomen bears a few bands of yellow or orange color. Recently, some inner-city Sydney areas have reported seeing the newly imported Asian Paper Wasp (Polistes chinensis).

These closely related species tend to have more pronounced yellow and brown stripes and are bigger than the local Polistes.

Although they may sting painfully, paper wasps are not as aggressive as European Wasps.

Normally, they only attack those who disrupt their nest. Multiple stings might cause a more serious systemic response.

Wasp, bee, and ant stings might occasionally result in an allergic reaction (anaphylaxis), but this is not typical.

Effective therapy is available, and it entails carrying a particular kit when outside for people who are known to have bee, ant, or wasp sting allergies.

Desensitization or immunotherapy are alternative options that can lessen the intensity of an allergy.

In Australia, wasp stings have been blamed for seven deaths over a 20-year span, mostly among known allergy patients who were not carrying their prophylactic medication with them.