1 00:00:01,920 --> 00:00:06,520 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff production of I Heart Radio. Hey 2 00:00:06,600 --> 00:00:10,440 Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren Vogelbaum. Here, many of us use the 3 00:00:10,440 --> 00:00:14,120 Speaker 1: words hornet and wasp interchangeably, but that's a vast over 4 00:00:14,200 --> 00:00:18,279 Speaker 1: generalization that doesn't disservice to these winged creatures. Understanding the 5 00:00:18,320 --> 00:00:21,360 Speaker 1: differences between hornets and wasps might help you make better 6 00:00:21,360 --> 00:00:25,160 Speaker 1: pest control decisions, prevent you from killing beneficial species, and 7 00:00:25,320 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: of course, might keep you from getting a painful sting. 8 00:00:29,000 --> 00:00:32,680 Speaker 1: Here's the biggest thing to know. All hornets are wasps, 9 00:00:32,920 --> 00:00:37,440 Speaker 1: but not all wasps are hornets. We spoke via email 10 00:00:37,479 --> 00:00:40,959 Speaker 1: with Jason Gibbs, Assistant professor of anomalogy at the University 11 00:00:40,960 --> 00:00:44,760 Speaker 1: of Manitoba. He said, hornets are just a kind of wasp. 12 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,640 Speaker 1: Wasp is a very broad term that covers many different 13 00:00:47,680 --> 00:00:52,000 Speaker 1: species with different lifestyles. There are indeed more than one 14 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,280 Speaker 1: hundred thousand species of wasp on Earth, each, a testament 15 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: to the startling diversity in these winged bugs. They're found 16 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,120 Speaker 1: in every part of the world, excep up for polar areas. 17 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:04,520 Speaker 1: It's usually easy to identify them, as they most often 18 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:07,800 Speaker 1: have black and yellow stripes, a well defined and narrow waist, 19 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:12,760 Speaker 1: and a tapered abdomen. Hornets are generally a little chubbier 20 00:01:12,800 --> 00:01:16,520 Speaker 1: and larger than there spelt wasp brethren, and some species 21 00:01:16,520 --> 00:01:19,240 Speaker 1: have white and black markings instead of yellow and black. 22 00:01:20,080 --> 00:01:23,200 Speaker 1: Their increased size means they also carry a substantial load 23 00:01:23,200 --> 00:01:26,280 Speaker 1: of venom, so in some cases these insects are more 24 00:01:26,360 --> 00:01:30,040 Speaker 1: dangerous than other kinds of wasps. Fortunately, if you leave 25 00:01:30,080 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: hornets and wasps alone, they generally want nothing to do 26 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,840 Speaker 1: with you either. Wasps and hornets cho upwood fragments and 27 00:01:36,959 --> 00:01:40,040 Speaker 1: use the resulting pulp to build their signature papery nests. 28 00:01:40,480 --> 00:01:43,600 Speaker 1: You'll find these nests, which have a honeycomb style segmentation 29 00:01:43,880 --> 00:01:48,040 Speaker 1: on many horizontal surfaces, including roof eaves, garage ceilings, and 30 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:52,960 Speaker 1: other places, dangling from a single thin thread. Some hornets, 31 00:01:53,000 --> 00:01:55,680 Speaker 1: like the giant European hornet, may also burrow into the 32 00:01:55,720 --> 00:01:58,520 Speaker 1: ground to build nests. Their nests may be as large 33 00:01:58,520 --> 00:02:03,760 Speaker 1: as a foot in diameter. Wasps, like bees, are incredibly 34 00:02:03,800 --> 00:02:08,919 Speaker 1: important pollinators, helping to keep plant life and agricultural crops healthy. 35 00:02:09,120 --> 00:02:12,520 Speaker 1: They tend to chow down on caterpillars and harmful flies, too, 36 00:02:12,919 --> 00:02:16,359 Speaker 1: making them beneficial to humans. That's one reason some places 37 00:02:16,400 --> 00:02:21,200 Speaker 1: like Germany banned people from disturbing these creatures. Wasps also 38 00:02:21,280 --> 00:02:24,800 Speaker 1: exhibit a voracious affinity for sugary foods and drinks, and 39 00:02:24,919 --> 00:02:27,919 Speaker 1: as such, they often make themselves unwelcome guests at outdoor 40 00:02:27,960 --> 00:02:32,359 Speaker 1: gatherings like picnics or sporting events. Furthermore, they also love 41 00:02:32,400 --> 00:02:36,000 Speaker 1: the sweet deliciousness of rotting partially fermented fruit that falls 42 00:02:36,000 --> 00:02:38,720 Speaker 1: to the ground. In autumn, they'll gorge themselves to the 43 00:02:38,720 --> 00:02:42,200 Speaker 1: point that they'll become drunkenly aggressive, sometimes chasing pets or 44 00:02:42,240 --> 00:02:46,520 Speaker 1: people if they feel annoyed or threatened. As their natural 45 00:02:46,520 --> 00:02:49,639 Speaker 1: food sources continue to dwindle in the fall, these insects 46 00:02:49,680 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: may become even bolder, one reason you should limit easy 47 00:02:52,639 --> 00:02:56,040 Speaker 1: access to human foods that keeps you and the wasps 48 00:02:56,120 --> 00:03:00,680 Speaker 1: safe from harm. While hornets may eat fruit or picnic food, 49 00:03:00,840 --> 00:03:03,280 Speaker 1: they're much more likely to feed on insects like crickets 50 00:03:03,280 --> 00:03:08,680 Speaker 1: and grasshoppers. Wasps are broadly divided into two categories, social 51 00:03:08,760 --> 00:03:13,440 Speaker 1: and solitary species. Social species include paper wasps, yellow jackets, 52 00:03:13,520 --> 00:03:19,600 Speaker 1: and yes hornets, but most wasp species are regarded as solitary. 53 00:03:19,760 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: Females live alone and reproduce using some notable techniques, including 54 00:03:23,680 --> 00:03:27,000 Speaker 1: laying eggs on other creatures like spiders, which they paralyze 55 00:03:27,000 --> 00:03:30,480 Speaker 1: and hold hostage in their own nests, eventually killing the hosts, 56 00:03:30,600 --> 00:03:35,200 Speaker 1: which then serve as food for wasp larva. Social species, 57 00:03:35,200 --> 00:03:37,880 Speaker 1: on the other hand, live in large colonies and populations, 58 00:03:37,920 --> 00:03:40,760 Speaker 1: often exceeding a hundred members with an egg laying queen, 59 00:03:41,040 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: as well as workers that do not reproduce, which is 60 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:47,960 Speaker 1: called a use social nest. Gibbs said wasps and bees 61 00:03:48,000 --> 00:03:50,960 Speaker 1: have evolved social behavior more often than any other group 62 00:03:50,960 --> 00:03:54,640 Speaker 1: of animal, and interestingly, have lost it many times too. 63 00:03:56,080 --> 00:03:59,360 Speaker 1: This behavior has also been recognized in sweat bees Gibbs 64 00:03:59,400 --> 00:04:03,720 Speaker 1: area of Bertise. He said sweat bees are particularly interesting 65 00:04:03,760 --> 00:04:06,520 Speaker 1: for studies of social evolution because there are so many 66 00:04:06,640 --> 00:04:10,040 Speaker 1: back and forths in the evolutionary tree. In fact, you 67 00:04:10,080 --> 00:04:13,640 Speaker 1: can have use social and solitary nests within the same species. 68 00:04:13,960 --> 00:04:17,520 Speaker 1: It's incredibly complex and interesting and wonderfully all of this 69 00:04:17,640 --> 00:04:21,320 Speaker 1: is going on under our noses. Yellow jackets are yet 70 00:04:21,320 --> 00:04:24,800 Speaker 1: another type of social wasps. They're smaller and build ground 71 00:04:24,839 --> 00:04:28,560 Speaker 1: nests that may feature hundreds of individuals. Some people mistake 72 00:04:28,600 --> 00:04:31,360 Speaker 1: these pint size wasps, which have bodies around half an 73 00:04:31,360 --> 00:04:35,200 Speaker 1: inch long for bees As their ground nests expand, the 74 00:04:35,240 --> 00:04:38,760 Speaker 1: soil becomes looser and creeds sinkhole. If you're unlucky enough 75 00:04:38,800 --> 00:04:40,800 Speaker 1: to step into one of these sinkholes, you may find 76 00:04:40,880 --> 00:04:43,400 Speaker 1: yourself at the mercy of hundreds of angry yellow jackets. 77 00:04:44,560 --> 00:04:48,360 Speaker 1: But solitary wasps rarely sting. That's true, even if you 78 00:04:48,400 --> 00:04:52,599 Speaker 1: disturb their nests, they don't attempt to defend them. Social 79 00:04:52,600 --> 00:04:54,960 Speaker 1: wasps and hornets, on the other hand, can be extremely 80 00:04:54,960 --> 00:04:58,120 Speaker 1: aggressive if you threaten their lives or their nests. Often 81 00:04:58,360 --> 00:05:02,480 Speaker 1: they'll swarm intruders and deliver multiple stings. Squatting at wasps 82 00:05:02,560 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: is shall we say a bad idea. Doing so triggers 83 00:05:06,360 --> 00:05:09,159 Speaker 1: the insect to release pheromones, alerting other wasps to a 84 00:05:09,160 --> 00:05:13,440 Speaker 1: threat you and that it's time to attack. Even one 85 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:16,760 Speaker 1: wasp sting can be very painful. Multiple stings might cause 86 00:05:16,800 --> 00:05:20,440 Speaker 1: serious harm, particularly to anyone who's allergic to the venom, 87 00:05:20,520 --> 00:05:23,800 Speaker 1: and in worst case scenarios, wasps might sting dozens or 88 00:05:23,880 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: hundreds of times and act that can kill even strong, 89 00:05:26,839 --> 00:05:30,760 Speaker 1: healthy people who aren't allergic to the venom. The best 90 00:05:30,839 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: strategy is to keep food covered outside, particularly sugary drinks, 91 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,880 Speaker 1: so that you don't attract wasps. If one wasp flies 92 00:05:37,920 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: near you, remain calm, it will probably just fly off. 93 00:05:41,400 --> 00:05:43,440 Speaker 1: If a swarm comes near you, run away in a 94 00:05:43,480 --> 00:05:52,120 Speaker 1: straight line without waving your arms. Today's episode were written 95 00:05:52,120 --> 00:05:55,080 Speaker 1: by Nathan Chandler and produced by Tyler Claying. Brain Stuff 96 00:05:55,080 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: is a production of I Heeart Radio's How Stuff Works. 97 00:05:57,320 --> 00:05:59,320 Speaker 1: For more in this and lots of other buzzworthy topics, 98 00:05:59,400 --> 00:06:01,840 Speaker 1: visit our home in it how stuff works dot com. 99 00:06:01,880 --> 00:06:04,080 Speaker 1: And for more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the 100 00:06:04,080 --> 00:06:06,920 Speaker 1: iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 101 00:06:06,960 --> 00:06:07,760 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.