Tom Jacob
15 sept 2021
Wasps are able to recognize individual human beings.
Recognising faces is essential for how we interact in complex societies, and is often thought to be an ability that requires the sophistication of the large human brain.
But new evidence shows that insects such as the honeybees (Apis mellifera) and the European wasp (Vespula vulgaris) use visual processing mechanisms that are similar to humans’, which enables reliable face recognition. If you don't cause them any harm, a wasp colony can easily recognize you and trust you. This is because they are able to recognize individual human beings.
Other evidence shows that paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) can very reliably learn the faces of other paper wasps, and appear to have evolved specialised brain mechanisms for wasp face processing.