1 00:00:00,790 --> 00:00:04,450 Speaker 1: Hi, everybody. Happy Saturday. We are rolling through COVID one 2 00:00:04,490 --> 00:00:07,090 Speaker 1: episode at a time every other week with me, your host, 3 00:00:07,590 --> 00:00:10,000 Speaker 1: COVID Chuck. I had it three times, so I can 4 00:00:10,020 --> 00:00:14,700 Speaker 1: call myself that. August 4th, 2020, middle of the summer 5 00:00:14,760 --> 00:00:17,700 Speaker 1: during COVID, people are out and about a little bit 6 00:00:17,760 --> 00:00:20,320 Speaker 1: as far as getting out into nature at this point 7 00:00:20,360 --> 00:00:23,590 Speaker 1: because it's summertime, but they're still keeping their distance, hopefully 8 00:00:23,610 --> 00:00:26,529 Speaker 1: still masking up, and hopefully listening to this episode at 9 00:00:26,550 --> 00:00:30,820 Speaker 1: the time, wasps, You know what's coming. Colon, not as 10 00:00:30,880 --> 00:00:33,740 Speaker 1: cute as bees. And you can check that out right now. 11 00:00:39,520 --> 00:00:49,269 Speaker 2: Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey, 12 00:00:49,350 --> 00:00:52,620 Speaker 2: and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W. 13 00:00:52,680 --> 00:00:55,860 Speaker 2: Chuck Bryant here. Jerry's out there somewhere, which makes this 14 00:00:55,920 --> 00:00:57,840 Speaker 2: stuff you should nezzo. 15 00:00:58,680 --> 00:01:01,580 Speaker 1: Yeah, old school insect dish from Robert Lamb. 16 00:01:02,600 --> 00:01:05,440 Speaker 2: I know, it's got mouth parts in it, but it's 17 00:01:05,500 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 2: no Tracy Wilson joint. 18 00:01:07,280 --> 00:01:08,140 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's Tracy. 19 00:01:08,160 --> 00:01:11,740 Speaker 2: But it's still good. It's super charming. Robert starts this 20 00:01:11,819 --> 00:01:15,899 Speaker 2: article out from the perspective of a spider who has 21 00:01:15,959 --> 00:01:19,220 Speaker 2: been dragged into a wasp's nest and is about to 22 00:01:19,260 --> 00:01:21,640 Speaker 2: be eaten alive by a wasp larvae. 23 00:01:22,790 --> 00:01:22,970 Speaker 1: Yeah. 24 00:01:22,990 --> 00:01:23,870 Speaker 2: It's pretty interesting. 25 00:01:24,970 --> 00:01:25,170 Speaker 1: Yeah. 26 00:01:25,330 --> 00:01:26,830 Speaker 2: It's a good article, I guess is what I'm trying 27 00:01:26,850 --> 00:01:29,590 Speaker 2: to say. And if you are not familiar with Robert Lamb, 28 00:01:30,150 --> 00:01:33,550 Speaker 2: then friends, you are missing out on not one, but two, no, 29 00:01:33,690 --> 00:01:36,830 Speaker 2: three really great podcasts that that guy has put out. 30 00:01:38,330 --> 00:01:39,670 Speaker 2: What is it? Stuff to Blow Your Mind? 31 00:01:39,690 --> 00:01:43,470 Speaker 1: Of course, the stalwart science tech, well, not tech, sort 32 00:01:43,490 --> 00:01:44,670 Speaker 1: of science plus show. 33 00:01:45,350 --> 00:01:49,090 Speaker 2: Yes. Yeah, yeah. In-depth, like super deep rabbit hole, interesting stuff. 34 00:01:49,230 --> 00:01:52,520 Speaker 2: And then he did one called Transhuman. 35 00:01:53,180 --> 00:01:57,370 Speaker 1: Yeah, that's a fiction, scripted sci-fi. Very cool. 36 00:01:57,870 --> 00:02:01,070 Speaker 2: Yeah, and then also he and Joe, who he does 37 00:02:01,110 --> 00:02:03,710 Speaker 2: Stuff to Blow Your Mind With, also do Invention, too, 38 00:02:04,250 --> 00:02:06,690 Speaker 2: which is kind of an in-depth rabbit hole thing about Invention. 39 00:02:06,750 --> 00:02:08,510 Speaker 2: So check all those out, everybody. 40 00:02:09,190 --> 00:02:10,600 Speaker 1: Yeah, it was fun to kind of get back to 41 00:02:10,639 --> 00:02:16,220 Speaker 1: basics with a nice little insect cast on wasps. And, dude, 42 00:02:16,260 --> 00:02:19,519 Speaker 1: I went outside today on my side deck to let 43 00:02:19,540 --> 00:02:25,750 Speaker 1: the dogs out, and lo and behold, I looked— Whoop, whoop, whoop. What? 44 00:02:25,770 --> 00:02:27,109 Speaker 2: You said who let the dogs out. 45 00:02:27,169 --> 00:02:27,669 Speaker 1: Oh, sorry. 46 00:02:27,710 --> 00:02:29,490 Speaker 2: You said let the dogs out, so I had to. 47 00:02:30,050 --> 00:02:32,250 Speaker 1: I thought you were saying wait, wait, wait. 48 00:02:32,810 --> 00:02:35,180 Speaker 2: No, no, I was saying whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop. 49 00:02:37,100 --> 00:02:39,600 Speaker 1: Oh, boy. That was a wasp nest on the ground. 50 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,700 Speaker 2: Okay, good. All right. Sorry, did I knock the legs 51 00:02:43,780 --> 00:02:44,880 Speaker 2: out from under that story? 52 00:02:44,900 --> 00:02:46,660 Speaker 1: No, it was just a wasp nest, but it was, 53 00:02:46,760 --> 00:02:49,260 Speaker 1: you know, the timing of it all. Was it live? Oh, 54 00:02:49,260 --> 00:02:52,440 Speaker 1: I didn't poke it to see. It was not attached. 55 00:02:52,500 --> 00:02:55,490 Speaker 1: I think it had fallen, so... My guess is that 56 00:02:55,530 --> 00:02:57,830 Speaker 1: it did not have any more wasps residing in it. 57 00:02:58,630 --> 00:03:00,489 Speaker 2: Man, that's got to be a real letdown because it's 58 00:03:00,570 --> 00:03:03,530 Speaker 2: the middle of summer right now. So they're wanting to 59 00:03:04,710 --> 00:03:07,670 Speaker 2: like grow. There was probably larva in there. Huh. 60 00:03:08,250 --> 00:03:08,889 Speaker 1: Yeah. 61 00:03:09,050 --> 00:03:12,390 Speaker 2: That's really weird. They must have abandoned it then. Yeah. 62 00:03:12,450 --> 00:03:16,070 Speaker 1: And wasps are, you know, I think, you know, everyone 63 00:03:16,090 --> 00:03:19,169 Speaker 1: loves the bees now because they should because bees are 64 00:03:19,250 --> 00:03:22,290 Speaker 1: awesome and bees produce honey and we want bees to 65 00:03:22,410 --> 00:03:25,870 Speaker 1: stick around. But I think wasps and hornets, which are 66 00:03:25,889 --> 00:03:31,210 Speaker 1: a type of wasps, are still just so maligned. And 67 00:03:31,669 --> 00:03:34,090 Speaker 1: they're the ones that people will reach for their can 68 00:03:34,130 --> 00:03:35,310 Speaker 1: of raid to spray. 69 00:03:35,330 --> 00:03:37,340 Speaker 2: With no qualms. 70 00:03:37,510 --> 00:03:40,480 Speaker 1: Yeah, and you shouldn't. Don't do it. Let the wasp live. 71 00:03:40,520 --> 00:03:41,660 Speaker 1: I'll go ahead and say it now. We're going to 72 00:03:41,680 --> 00:03:43,180 Speaker 1: say it a bunch. But let them live. 73 00:03:44,060 --> 00:03:46,780 Speaker 2: Totally, Chuck. Thank you. Yeah, we're here to open everyone's 74 00:03:47,020 --> 00:03:50,620 Speaker 2: eyes to the function and purpose of wasps' existence. They're 75 00:03:50,640 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 2: not like mosquitoes. Remember in the mosquitoes episode, we basically 76 00:03:53,820 --> 00:03:56,740 Speaker 2: concluded that there's no reason for mosquitoes to be around. 77 00:03:56,760 --> 00:04:00,640 Speaker 2: And they just are terrible. Wasps are not like that. 78 00:04:01,080 --> 00:04:03,240 Speaker 2: And I think Robert does a really good job of 79 00:04:03,260 --> 00:04:06,260 Speaker 2: basically pinning down why wasps get such a bad rap. 80 00:04:06,940 --> 00:04:11,250 Speaker 2: One is that their stings pack such a wallop compared 81 00:04:11,280 --> 00:04:12,790 Speaker 2: to other stinging insects. 82 00:04:12,850 --> 00:04:13,470 Speaker 1: Yeah, it hurts. 83 00:04:14,130 --> 00:04:16,610 Speaker 2: And we'll talk about their stings and the venom that 84 00:04:16,650 --> 00:04:19,640 Speaker 2: goes along with it. which is so, okay, that's fair. 85 00:04:19,800 --> 00:04:21,960 Speaker 2: Like nobody wants to be stung by a wasp. It's really, 86 00:04:22,160 --> 00:04:25,280 Speaker 2: it can ruin your day. And then also the other 87 00:04:25,320 --> 00:04:28,740 Speaker 2: thing is, is that if you pay attention to wasps, 88 00:04:28,800 --> 00:04:34,300 Speaker 2: you realize that they live these really brutal, grizzled existences. 89 00:04:34,660 --> 00:04:39,239 Speaker 2: They're predators. And in fact, in their habitats, they're apex predators. 90 00:04:39,360 --> 00:04:43,250 Speaker 2: They're like sharks and lions. But for the bugs and 91 00:04:44,310 --> 00:04:47,560 Speaker 2: sometimes small animals that live around there, Like, I didn't 92 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:50,640 Speaker 2: watch any of the videos that I could have because 93 00:04:50,680 --> 00:04:54,600 Speaker 2: I'm just really over animal death, even if it's nature. 94 00:04:54,620 --> 00:04:57,760 Speaker 1: Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, that's Emily. 95 00:04:58,380 --> 00:04:59,870 Speaker 2: When I was doing The End of the World with 96 00:04:59,950 --> 00:05:03,090 Speaker 2: Josh Clark, like, I went into it just feeling fine 97 00:05:03,130 --> 00:05:05,330 Speaker 2: about that. It's just nature. That's the way things work. 98 00:05:05,770 --> 00:05:07,650 Speaker 2: And then one of the guys I talked to is 99 00:05:07,690 --> 00:05:10,770 Speaker 2: David Pierce, who you and I talked to actually first 100 00:05:10,850 --> 00:05:13,330 Speaker 2: in our Super Stuff Guide to Happiness. Oh, yeah. But 101 00:05:13,510 --> 00:05:16,490 Speaker 2: I went back and interviewed him, and his whole jam 102 00:05:16,570 --> 00:05:22,080 Speaker 2: is Like, we could actually eventually engineer the biosphere so 103 00:05:22,100 --> 00:05:24,599 Speaker 2: that there isn't any suffering among animals. And, like, what 104 00:05:24,640 --> 00:05:28,150 Speaker 2: we take as natural doesn't necessarily have to be that way. 105 00:05:28,170 --> 00:05:31,830 Speaker 2: And it's really changed how I view, like, violence even 106 00:05:31,870 --> 00:05:34,650 Speaker 2: among animals. So, anyway, the upshot is I didn't watch 107 00:05:34,740 --> 00:05:36,560 Speaker 2: any videos. But one of the ones that I saw, 108 00:05:36,940 --> 00:05:42,960 Speaker 2: the title was Wasp Kills Baby Bird. So that video's 109 00:05:43,020 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 2: out there if you want to see that, but I 110 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:47,380 Speaker 2: just can't. I don't like to see that stuff anymore, 111 00:05:47,420 --> 00:05:49,599 Speaker 2: you know? Yeah. I mean, I didn't really, like, enjoy 112 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:51,839 Speaker 2: it before, but now it just downright bothers me. 113 00:05:52,980 --> 00:05:56,910 Speaker 1: Yeah. I get it. I live with a person who 114 00:05:56,950 --> 00:05:59,349 Speaker 1: can't watch anything like that, so I get it. Yeah. 115 00:05:59,850 --> 00:06:03,590 Speaker 1: So there are more than 20,000 species of wasp, and 116 00:06:03,610 --> 00:06:05,630 Speaker 1: like I said, hornets are a kind of wasp, so 117 00:06:05,670 --> 00:06:08,450 Speaker 1: if you hear, I mean, you would call a hornet 118 00:06:08,490 --> 00:06:10,820 Speaker 1: a hornet, but you can't necessarily use them interchangeably, but 119 00:06:11,230 --> 00:06:15,990 Speaker 1: A hornet is a wasp. And there's a lot of, 120 00:06:16,660 --> 00:06:19,260 Speaker 1: you know, over that 20,000 species, there are a lot 121 00:06:19,300 --> 00:06:22,380 Speaker 1: of different kinds and a lot of variety as far 122 00:06:22,440 --> 00:06:24,440 Speaker 1: as what they look like and what they're shaped like 123 00:06:24,480 --> 00:06:26,540 Speaker 1: and what color they are and how they like to 124 00:06:26,580 --> 00:06:30,520 Speaker 1: live their life. But as with every insect cast, we're 125 00:06:30,550 --> 00:06:31,770 Speaker 1: going to go over those body parts. 126 00:06:33,290 --> 00:06:35,650 Speaker 2: Sure. Because mouth parts is in there somewhere. 127 00:06:36,089 --> 00:06:39,750 Speaker 1: And it starts with an exoskeleton, just like all the 128 00:06:39,790 --> 00:06:43,729 Speaker 1: little insect buddies have that. chitin exoskeleton and in the 129 00:06:43,750 --> 00:06:46,070 Speaker 1: case of the wasp they are very segmented out they 130 00:06:46,089 --> 00:06:49,250 Speaker 1: have three segments they get your head which has got 131 00:06:49,290 --> 00:06:53,310 Speaker 1: those antennae the sensory antennae you got those mouth parts 132 00:06:53,330 --> 00:06:57,520 Speaker 1: because they lick and they bite and then you have 133 00:06:57,540 --> 00:07:04,060 Speaker 1: the very cool looking compound eyes and simple eyes these 134 00:07:04,260 --> 00:07:06,840 Speaker 1: sort of kidney shaped eyes of a wasp that are 135 00:07:06,860 --> 00:07:08,660 Speaker 1: very sort of signature. 136 00:07:08,940 --> 00:07:12,790 Speaker 2: What are they known as in your italian accent Ocelli. 137 00:07:14,250 --> 00:07:18,080 Speaker 2: So in the Italian, if a vowel follows a C, 138 00:07:18,100 --> 00:07:21,260 Speaker 2: it makes a ch. Yeah, it makes a ch sound. 139 00:07:21,600 --> 00:07:24,060 Speaker 2: If a C is followed by an H, it makes 140 00:07:24,100 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 2: a ch sound. 141 00:07:25,460 --> 00:07:27,070 Speaker 1: So is this really pronounced ocelli? 142 00:07:27,810 --> 00:07:32,670 Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay. I think among biologists, they probably say ocelli. 143 00:07:33,070 --> 00:07:35,670 Speaker 2: But since you're doing the accent, I wanted to set 144 00:07:35,710 --> 00:07:37,500 Speaker 2: you up for a lesson in Italian. 145 00:07:37,560 --> 00:07:38,220 Speaker 1: I appreciate that. 146 00:07:39,970 --> 00:07:42,210 Speaker 2: Okay, so you've got the head. It has some eyes. 147 00:07:42,230 --> 00:07:43,650 Speaker 2: It also has a brain, Chuck. 148 00:07:43,970 --> 00:07:44,490 Speaker 1: Yeah. 149 00:07:44,710 --> 00:07:48,830 Speaker 2: Which I saw supposedly wasps are among the smarter insects 150 00:07:48,930 --> 00:07:51,510 Speaker 2: out there. They can recognize each other by face, by 151 00:07:51,550 --> 00:07:53,010 Speaker 2: facial markings. Did you know that? 152 00:07:53,410 --> 00:07:55,890 Speaker 1: Yeah. Hey, Steve. How you doing? Sting anyone? 153 00:07:56,910 --> 00:07:59,610 Speaker 2: I'm doing okay, Ted. Thanks for asking. Just killed a 154 00:07:59,650 --> 00:08:02,790 Speaker 2: baby bird. Some weirdo was filming it and put it 155 00:08:02,870 --> 00:08:03,730 Speaker 2: on the internet. 156 00:08:03,770 --> 00:08:06,030 Speaker 1: Well, actually, Steve would say, no, I didn't sting anyone 157 00:08:06,090 --> 00:08:08,190 Speaker 1: because I'm a man and I don't sting. 158 00:08:10,520 --> 00:08:12,840 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's a really great point, Chuck, which we'll 159 00:08:12,880 --> 00:08:16,310 Speaker 2: talk more about later. You'd find the stinger in the abdomen, 160 00:08:16,350 --> 00:08:19,400 Speaker 2: which is the third part, the lowest part of the 161 00:08:19,440 --> 00:08:22,630 Speaker 2: wasp's body, but only in a female, which I think 162 00:08:22,690 --> 00:08:25,790 Speaker 2: this is true for bees, too, if I'm not mistaken. 163 00:08:27,250 --> 00:08:28,710 Speaker 1: Yeah, I don't remember. We've done a lot of good 164 00:08:28,750 --> 00:08:31,830 Speaker 1: bee stuff. Yeah, for sure. And then in between those things, 165 00:08:31,850 --> 00:08:34,350 Speaker 1: you've got the thorax, which has the six little legs, 166 00:08:35,090 --> 00:08:39,780 Speaker 1: and then those really quick flapping wings. Yeah. 167 00:08:40,000 --> 00:08:43,260 Speaker 2: So in between the thorax and the abdomen, you have 168 00:08:43,300 --> 00:08:45,880 Speaker 2: a very narrow waist, which usually is what gives away 169 00:08:45,940 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 2: a wasp. You can look at it and be like, 170 00:08:47,679 --> 00:08:50,240 Speaker 2: that's a wasp. It's like it's got a corset on. 171 00:08:50,640 --> 00:08:54,050 Speaker 2: Unless it's a hornet. Hornets are much chunkier, more rotund. 172 00:08:54,130 --> 00:08:55,070 Speaker 1: Yeah. 173 00:08:55,630 --> 00:08:57,910 Speaker 2: But they are, like you said, a kind of wasp. 174 00:09:00,370 --> 00:09:04,890 Speaker 2: And actually, I think the genus that hornets fall under 175 00:09:05,510 --> 00:09:10,660 Speaker 2: is called Vespa. And Vespa in Italian means wasp. So 176 00:09:12,520 --> 00:09:14,720 Speaker 2: hornets are wasps in Italian. 177 00:09:14,740 --> 00:09:15,440 Speaker 1: Okay. 178 00:09:15,460 --> 00:09:16,400 Speaker 2: Okay. 179 00:09:16,940 --> 00:09:18,920 Speaker 1: So I think one of the coolest things about the 180 00:09:18,970 --> 00:09:22,569 Speaker 1: wasp is the history and the evolution of this thing, 181 00:09:24,490 --> 00:09:27,370 Speaker 1: along with some pretty horrific stuff that's going to follow. 182 00:09:28,030 --> 00:09:31,310 Speaker 1: But about in the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago, 183 00:09:31,990 --> 00:09:33,750 Speaker 1: you had to kind of take a snapshot of planet 184 00:09:33,790 --> 00:09:38,220 Speaker 1: Earth to understand how the wasp forms. And back then, 185 00:09:38,260 --> 00:09:41,140 Speaker 1: they didn't have all these flowering plants like we have now. 186 00:09:41,179 --> 00:09:45,760 Speaker 1: There were a lot of conifers. And these evergreens depended 187 00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:49,089 Speaker 1: on the wind to spread their seed around. They weren't 188 00:09:49,130 --> 00:09:52,020 Speaker 1: counting on the insects to do this kind of thing 189 00:09:52,020 --> 00:09:55,260 Speaker 1: at this point. And we should also mention that ants 190 00:09:55,260 --> 00:09:58,260 Speaker 1: are a cousin of the wasp, which makes sense. They 191 00:09:58,260 --> 00:09:59,599 Speaker 1: look kind of ant-like. 192 00:09:59,600 --> 00:10:04,240 Speaker 2: Yeah. I think they finally figured out that ants evolved 193 00:10:04,480 --> 00:10:07,140 Speaker 2: out of mud daubers. They're their closest relative. 194 00:10:07,400 --> 00:10:07,660 Speaker 1: Okay. 195 00:10:09,200 --> 00:10:10,620 Speaker 2: Which kind of makes sense. I think they have some 196 00:10:10,900 --> 00:10:11,679 Speaker 2: ant-like behavior. 197 00:10:12,440 --> 00:10:18,559 Speaker 1: Yeah, ant-like. So, during the Cretaceous period, these wasps were carnivores. 198 00:10:19,200 --> 00:10:23,570 Speaker 1: and they preyed on spiders and other insects. And as 199 00:10:23,630 --> 00:10:27,390 Speaker 1: plants started to evolve, they realized that, Hey, there's a 200 00:10:27,410 --> 00:10:31,250 Speaker 1: lot of insects flying around, going back and forth. Like 201 00:10:31,450 --> 00:10:34,290 Speaker 1: we're just using the wind to carry our seed around. 202 00:10:34,710 --> 00:10:37,600 Speaker 1: Why don't we, why don't we get these insects to 203 00:10:37,640 --> 00:10:40,140 Speaker 1: work for us basically? And they can do the job. 204 00:10:41,460 --> 00:10:45,260 Speaker 2: Yeah. So that was the rise of the angiosperms. Um, 205 00:10:46,130 --> 00:10:48,189 Speaker 2: which is, you know, whenever you think of a flower 206 00:10:48,210 --> 00:10:51,589 Speaker 2: that the bee visits and moves from place to place 207 00:10:51,830 --> 00:10:56,010 Speaker 2: carrying pollen, that's what an angiosperm is. Rather than having 208 00:10:56,050 --> 00:10:57,910 Speaker 2: to just depend on the wind, you can depend on 209 00:10:57,950 --> 00:11:01,710 Speaker 2: the insects. And so eventually over time, these wasps, these 210 00:11:01,790 --> 00:11:09,020 Speaker 2: early predators that used to feed exclusively on other insects said, well, 211 00:11:09,059 --> 00:11:11,559 Speaker 2: you know what, this whole nectar thing and the pollen thing, 212 00:11:11,620 --> 00:11:14,360 Speaker 2: I can get with this. So they started to change 213 00:11:14,420 --> 00:11:19,400 Speaker 2: their diet from insects to pollen and nectar. But the 214 00:11:19,420 --> 00:11:21,830 Speaker 2: weird thing is, is rather than developing a way to 215 00:11:21,870 --> 00:11:25,610 Speaker 2: feed their young from pollen and nectar, like honeybees, which 216 00:11:25,670 --> 00:11:28,830 Speaker 2: I think is another reason people like bees and don't 217 00:11:28,850 --> 00:11:35,670 Speaker 2: really realize it, realize it, is that they're little vegetarian 218 00:11:35,740 --> 00:11:37,100 Speaker 2: vegan animals. 219 00:11:37,460 --> 00:11:37,880 Speaker 1: Yeah, maybe. 220 00:11:37,920 --> 00:11:41,640 Speaker 2: You know, they don't hurt anybody. They'll still defend themselves, 221 00:11:42,000 --> 00:11:44,120 Speaker 2: but they don't want to go hurt anybody. They're very peaceful. 222 00:11:44,790 --> 00:11:47,309 Speaker 2: Wasps are not like that because even though they generally, 223 00:11:47,470 --> 00:11:51,890 Speaker 2: most species of wasp, adults, eat nectar and pollen, they 224 00:11:51,950 --> 00:11:54,510 Speaker 2: still kill other insects to drag back to their nests 225 00:11:54,550 --> 00:11:57,290 Speaker 2: to feed their young, to raise their young on. So 226 00:11:57,750 --> 00:12:00,600 Speaker 2: wasps are technically omnivores. At the beginning of their life, 227 00:12:00,620 --> 00:12:03,819 Speaker 2: they're carnivores, and then later in life, they grow into herbivores. 228 00:12:04,300 --> 00:12:06,559 Speaker 1: Yeah, isn't that amazing? It is. 229 00:12:06,640 --> 00:12:09,100 Speaker 2: Wasps are way more amazing than I realized. 230 00:12:09,960 --> 00:12:11,400 Speaker 1: Should we take a break and talk about their stinger? 231 00:12:12,700 --> 00:12:12,880 Speaker 2: Yes. 232 00:12:13,170 --> 00:12:36,750 Speaker 1: All right. We'll be right back for Stinger Talk. All right. 233 00:12:36,790 --> 00:12:39,050 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stinger Talk. I'm Chuck. 234 00:12:41,050 --> 00:12:42,910 Speaker 2: I'm Josh. I'm, wait, no, I'm Ted. 235 00:12:44,410 --> 00:12:45,390 Speaker 1: I guess that makes me Steve. 236 00:12:46,090 --> 00:12:47,210 Speaker 2: Yeah. 237 00:12:47,250 --> 00:12:51,550 Speaker 1: Wasp stings are tough. You kind of mentioned early on, it's, 238 00:12:52,179 --> 00:12:55,620 Speaker 1: you know, you get a yellow jacket and that doesn't 239 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:59,200 Speaker 1: feel great. And obviously we're talking about if you're non-allergic 240 00:12:59,280 --> 00:13:01,660 Speaker 1: and it's not like a legitimate threat to your health 241 00:13:01,740 --> 00:13:03,939 Speaker 1: and it's just the pain of the sting that we're 242 00:13:04,000 --> 00:13:06,900 Speaker 1: rating here. Yellow jacket sting isn't great, but a wasp 243 00:13:06,940 --> 00:13:10,830 Speaker 1: sting And a hornet sting is really something else. I 244 00:13:11,809 --> 00:13:14,189 Speaker 1: feel like it hurts more and for longer. 245 00:13:15,070 --> 00:13:19,270 Speaker 2: And for good reason, because it actually does. Bee venom 246 00:13:19,690 --> 00:13:22,069 Speaker 2: is its own thing. It shares a lot in common 247 00:13:22,110 --> 00:13:27,470 Speaker 2: with wasp venom. Wasp venom seems to be this extraordinarily 248 00:13:27,590 --> 00:13:34,320 Speaker 2: highly developed biological weapon that is this cocktail of different 249 00:13:34,380 --> 00:13:38,819 Speaker 2: kinds of compounds. that all come together to produce a 250 00:13:38,940 --> 00:13:43,780 Speaker 2: horrible pain sensation that lasts longer and has a greater 251 00:13:43,880 --> 00:13:48,110 Speaker 2: impact on your body than anything the actual sting produces. 252 00:13:48,410 --> 00:13:51,790 Speaker 2: And that's apparently the whole reason behind it, is it 253 00:13:51,890 --> 00:13:57,550 Speaker 2: makes the wasps seem way less vulnerable than they actually are. 254 00:13:57,590 --> 00:13:59,929 Speaker 2: It seems like they're way more powerful. And for all 255 00:13:59,970 --> 00:14:02,970 Speaker 2: intents and purposes, they are. But, like, if you could 256 00:14:02,990 --> 00:14:05,839 Speaker 2: take the venom out of the sting... the sting would 257 00:14:05,880 --> 00:14:09,380 Speaker 2: do basically nothing to you. But because the venom is 258 00:14:09,420 --> 00:14:12,859 Speaker 2: introduced by that sting, that venom is so potent, it's 259 00:14:12,960 --> 00:14:14,960 Speaker 2: like one of the worst things in the world to 260 00:14:14,980 --> 00:14:15,959 Speaker 2: get stung by a wasp. 261 00:14:16,460 --> 00:14:20,100 Speaker 1: Yeah, and the actual stinger itself has a pretty remarkable 262 00:14:20,320 --> 00:14:24,380 Speaker 1: evolutionary story. So here's what happens. In the prehistoric times, 263 00:14:24,420 --> 00:14:28,920 Speaker 1: this parasitic wasp would use this ovipositor. That's actually the 264 00:14:28,980 --> 00:14:31,800 Speaker 1: egg-laying organ. They would use this pointy thing to lay 265 00:14:31,820 --> 00:14:35,040 Speaker 1: the egg On a living insect, like they would lay 266 00:14:35,100 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: the egg on the caterpillar, then these little larvae would 267 00:14:38,460 --> 00:14:40,800 Speaker 1: hatch out, and then they would eat that caterpillar, the 268 00:14:40,840 --> 00:14:44,740 Speaker 1: larvae would. So at some point, as things are evolving along, 269 00:14:45,250 --> 00:14:47,120 Speaker 1: Mother Nature says, you know what would be even better 270 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:52,270 Speaker 1: than this is if you could saw open that caterpillar 271 00:14:53,030 --> 00:14:56,510 Speaker 1: with this ovipositor and lay eggs inside of this thing. 272 00:14:57,170 --> 00:14:58,570 Speaker 1: And that's exactly what happened. 273 00:14:59,690 --> 00:15:02,350 Speaker 2: Right. which made a lot of sense. And I think 274 00:15:02,390 --> 00:15:05,720 Speaker 2: there's a lot of wasp species, or there's at least 275 00:15:05,760 --> 00:15:08,600 Speaker 2: some that still do this. Like rather than build a nest, 276 00:15:08,640 --> 00:15:11,580 Speaker 2: they just go find an insect host and lay some 277 00:15:11,620 --> 00:15:13,200 Speaker 2: eggs on it or lay some eggs in it and 278 00:15:13,240 --> 00:15:19,180 Speaker 2: then just let the larvae eat the inside out. But most, 279 00:15:19,490 --> 00:15:21,890 Speaker 2: I think, have evolved to kind of use some different techniques, 280 00:15:21,930 --> 00:15:24,450 Speaker 2: which we'll talk about in a little bit. But the 281 00:15:24,990 --> 00:15:29,340 Speaker 2: stinger itself stuck around Even after it stopped being used 282 00:15:29,360 --> 00:15:33,460 Speaker 2: to actually deposit eggs into the insects directly. 283 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,800 Speaker 1: That's right. And you talked about the venom that's obviously 284 00:15:36,850 --> 00:15:40,370 Speaker 1: produced in the venom gland, stored in a little venom sack, 285 00:15:40,380 --> 00:15:44,110 Speaker 1: a little burlap sack inside the wasp body. And then 286 00:15:44,470 --> 00:15:47,530 Speaker 1: it seeps out. It's a barbless stinger. It's just like 287 00:15:47,570 --> 00:15:50,110 Speaker 1: a straight little pointy thing. But it seeps out through 288 00:15:50,130 --> 00:15:53,750 Speaker 1: these little valves and coats the entire stinger. And so 289 00:15:53,770 --> 00:15:57,420 Speaker 1: they store this stinger inside of a sheath and are– 290 00:15:57,680 --> 00:15:59,500 Speaker 1: always kind of ready to use it. And, you know, 291 00:15:59,520 --> 00:16:01,820 Speaker 1: like we said, it's only the females because it was 292 00:16:01,840 --> 00:16:05,580 Speaker 1: an ovipositor, but the males can pretend like, like they'll 293 00:16:05,620 --> 00:16:08,460 Speaker 1: rear their little butt your way and say, stay away 294 00:16:08,480 --> 00:16:09,840 Speaker 1: from me. You don't know if I'm a male or 295 00:16:09,860 --> 00:16:13,180 Speaker 1: a female, right? You don't want to look too closely, right? Right. 296 00:16:13,240 --> 00:16:15,820 Speaker 2: Which is just hilarious. But it also, didn't that show 297 00:16:15,860 --> 00:16:18,300 Speaker 2: like a certain level of intelligence as well? 298 00:16:18,640 --> 00:16:19,040 Speaker 1: I think so. 299 00:16:19,870 --> 00:16:23,930 Speaker 2: Or at the very least there's some, yeah, to bluff, 300 00:16:24,290 --> 00:16:28,510 Speaker 2: you know, that's, that takes intelligence. Um, Which is, I think, 301 00:16:28,550 --> 00:16:31,210 Speaker 2: another indicator that wasps are amazing. 302 00:16:31,750 --> 00:16:33,930 Speaker 1: Yeah, and like you sort of hinted at, the reason 303 00:16:33,950 --> 00:16:37,530 Speaker 1: this venom is so powerful is it has a couple 304 00:16:37,550 --> 00:16:41,890 Speaker 1: of functions. One is just the simple function of paralyzing 305 00:16:41,950 --> 00:16:46,830 Speaker 1: those insects, and the other is as a defense. It's 306 00:16:46,910 --> 00:16:50,510 Speaker 1: meant to sting something much, much larger and have that 307 00:16:50,590 --> 00:16:54,330 Speaker 1: thing hurt so bad that it thinks it's hurt a 308 00:16:54,370 --> 00:16:57,010 Speaker 1: lot worse than it is and just wants to get 309 00:16:57,050 --> 00:16:57,810 Speaker 1: out of there, basically. 310 00:16:58,620 --> 00:17:02,940 Speaker 2: Right. And then that combined with their very, usually very 311 00:17:03,020 --> 00:17:06,119 Speaker 2: bright colorings, because, you know, usually the more colorful an 312 00:17:06,180 --> 00:17:08,400 Speaker 2: animal is, the more toxic it is. It's just kind 313 00:17:08,420 --> 00:17:11,830 Speaker 2: of a universal symbol in nature to just steer clear. 314 00:17:13,090 --> 00:17:17,190 Speaker 2: And hornets and wasps typically are fairly colorful as far 315 00:17:17,230 --> 00:17:20,510 Speaker 2: as insects go. So those two things combined can teach 316 00:17:20,730 --> 00:17:23,990 Speaker 2: a larger animal pretty quickly to just leave them alone. 317 00:17:24,609 --> 00:17:27,990 Speaker 2: And that's kind of how wasps have made it this long. 318 00:17:28,020 --> 00:17:30,740 Speaker 2: I mean, They've been around for more than 100 million years, 319 00:17:30,780 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 2: you know? 320 00:17:31,160 --> 00:17:31,920 Speaker 1: Yeah. 321 00:17:32,270 --> 00:17:36,530 Speaker 2: That's a pretty successful species or family of insects. Yeah. 322 00:17:36,650 --> 00:17:40,190 Speaker 1: And that includes humans, obviously. Sure. If you go poking 323 00:17:40,210 --> 00:17:42,330 Speaker 1: around a hornet's nest or a wasp's nest and you 324 00:17:42,350 --> 00:17:45,990 Speaker 1: get stung, you're not going to finish the job. You're 325 00:17:46,010 --> 00:17:47,100 Speaker 1: probably just going to get out of there. 326 00:17:48,040 --> 00:17:48,230 Speaker 2: Yeah. 327 00:17:48,900 --> 00:17:49,120 Speaker 1: Yeah. 328 00:17:49,359 --> 00:17:52,340 Speaker 2: Hopefully. You can learn your lesson that first time, you know? 329 00:17:52,440 --> 00:17:52,620 Speaker 1: Yeah. 330 00:17:52,820 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 2: Or maybe you don't even have to learn it directly. 331 00:17:54,640 --> 00:17:56,560 Speaker 2: You can just know to stay away from the wasp. 332 00:17:57,100 --> 00:17:57,860 Speaker 1: So what's in that venom? 333 00:17:59,109 --> 00:18:01,690 Speaker 2: Oh, some really good stuff. I actually found even more 334 00:18:01,750 --> 00:18:06,590 Speaker 2: stuff than Robert included here. There's some peptides and some enzymes. 335 00:18:07,930 --> 00:18:14,939 Speaker 2: Some of the enzymes include phospholipase A and B. Phospholipase 336 00:18:14,960 --> 00:18:19,400 Speaker 2: A and B. And these actually break down the membrane 337 00:18:19,609 --> 00:18:24,869 Speaker 2: lipid coating of cells in your body to basically spill 338 00:18:24,890 --> 00:18:29,020 Speaker 2: their guts into your bloodstream. And that includes neurons. Neural 339 00:18:29,060 --> 00:18:32,620 Speaker 2: cells can be spilled into your bloodstream when they encounter 340 00:18:32,680 --> 00:18:39,140 Speaker 2: this peptide, which sends an excruciating pain notification to your 341 00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:43,129 Speaker 2: brain saying, alert, alert, you're in a tremendous amount of pain. 342 00:18:43,710 --> 00:18:45,370 Speaker 2: That's just like step one. 343 00:18:46,070 --> 00:18:50,129 Speaker 1: Yeah. They also have norepinephrine in there, which stops the 344 00:18:50,170 --> 00:18:53,979 Speaker 1: blood flow temporarily. And that's why I like that when 345 00:18:54,020 --> 00:18:56,610 Speaker 1: I said it feels like it lasts longer. I feel 346 00:18:56,630 --> 00:19:00,989 Speaker 1: like that's the norepinephrine at work because it just sort 347 00:19:01,010 --> 00:19:04,090 Speaker 1: of sits in one place. And eventually the bloodstream is 348 00:19:04,109 --> 00:19:05,950 Speaker 1: going to kind of dilute it away, but it kind 349 00:19:05,970 --> 00:19:07,230 Speaker 1: of hangs out there for a little while. 350 00:19:07,869 --> 00:19:13,850 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's just mean. There's also acetylcholine, which actually goes 351 00:19:13,890 --> 00:19:17,150 Speaker 2: to your pain receptors and stimulates them, right? 352 00:19:17,270 --> 00:19:17,470 Speaker 1: Wow. 353 00:19:17,609 --> 00:19:21,690 Speaker 2: And there's also histamines. And histamines are released by your body. 354 00:19:22,090 --> 00:19:28,550 Speaker 2: They're responsible for the inflammatory response. But they also, the 355 00:19:29,030 --> 00:19:34,590 Speaker 2: venom in a wasp's venom includes histamines directly, too, just 356 00:19:34,630 --> 00:19:38,530 Speaker 2: to make sure that it gets that inflammation good and primed. 357 00:19:39,210 --> 00:19:41,390 Speaker 1: Yeah, and then there's, I was hoping you would take 358 00:19:41,430 --> 00:19:43,590 Speaker 1: this part because of that word. You want to try it? 359 00:19:44,310 --> 00:19:45,310 Speaker 2: Hyaluronidase? 360 00:19:45,570 --> 00:19:45,810 Speaker 1: Oh, well. 361 00:19:47,340 --> 00:19:51,540 Speaker 2: I use hyaluronic acid under my eyes. Oh, do you really? Sure. 362 00:19:51,619 --> 00:19:52,020 Speaker 1: What's that? 363 00:19:54,420 --> 00:19:56,300 Speaker 2: It's like it's an acid. 364 00:19:56,740 --> 00:19:57,120 Speaker 1: What's it for? 365 00:19:57,140 --> 00:19:58,090 Speaker 2: You put it under your eyes. 366 00:19:59,119 --> 00:19:59,610 Speaker 1: I don't know. 367 00:19:59,630 --> 00:20:00,790 Speaker 2: I think for bags. 368 00:20:01,190 --> 00:20:01,950 Speaker 1: Oh, like eye bags? 369 00:20:01,990 --> 00:20:04,890 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to keep your eyes looking sharp. 370 00:20:05,230 --> 00:20:07,850 Speaker 1: Oh, wow. I noticed your eyes always look so sharp. 371 00:20:08,970 --> 00:20:10,389 Speaker 2: I thought you'd notice eventually. 372 00:20:11,250 --> 00:20:14,730 Speaker 1: So that thing that you just talked about and then 373 00:20:14,760 --> 00:20:21,080 Speaker 1: something called MCDP, mass cell degranulating peptide. This stuff actually 374 00:20:21,460 --> 00:20:25,820 Speaker 1: melts through the connective tissue between cells and basically just 375 00:20:25,840 --> 00:20:28,300 Speaker 1: sort of it destroys those membranes and allows the venom 376 00:20:28,740 --> 00:20:31,580 Speaker 1: to move a little more freely than it would ordinarily. 377 00:20:32,470 --> 00:20:38,700 Speaker 2: Yeah, and the mast cell degranulating peptide, degranulating means that 378 00:20:38,740 --> 00:20:42,439 Speaker 2: it basically goes to your mast cells and squeezes the 379 00:20:42,500 --> 00:20:45,619 Speaker 2: histamines out of them. So not only does it contain 380 00:20:45,640 --> 00:20:48,980 Speaker 2: histamines already, not only does it trigger a histamine response 381 00:20:49,060 --> 00:20:52,260 Speaker 2: or release, it goes and gets it out of the 382 00:20:52,380 --> 00:20:56,020 Speaker 2: cells that normally carry it around in your immune system. 383 00:20:57,119 --> 00:21:00,020 Speaker 2: So it's just really mean, nasty stuff. One of the 384 00:21:00,040 --> 00:21:02,220 Speaker 2: other things I saw that they've just started to kind 385 00:21:02,280 --> 00:21:08,050 Speaker 2: of pay attention to is called bradykinin. And it's associated 386 00:21:08,070 --> 00:21:12,889 Speaker 2: with chronic pain. So on top of acute pain production, 387 00:21:12,970 --> 00:21:14,810 Speaker 2: they're like, how about a little dose of what it 388 00:21:14,850 --> 00:21:17,050 Speaker 2: feels like to have chronic pain, too, in the mix 389 00:21:17,109 --> 00:21:20,090 Speaker 2: of all of this stuff. And then, Chuck, tell me 390 00:21:20,130 --> 00:21:22,870 Speaker 2: this isn't astounding. I got a couple more. One thing 391 00:21:22,910 --> 00:21:26,340 Speaker 2: is just called antigen 5, which is as cryptic as 392 00:21:26,400 --> 00:21:28,590 Speaker 2: it comes. They don't know exactly what role it plays, 393 00:21:28,609 --> 00:21:31,290 Speaker 2: but they know it's a very powerful allergen. And then 394 00:21:31,310 --> 00:21:35,770 Speaker 2: there's a couple of peptides that are antimicrobial, which prevent 395 00:21:35,830 --> 00:21:40,660 Speaker 2: the wasp from contracting an infection from a prey that 396 00:21:40,720 --> 00:21:42,280 Speaker 2: it puts its stinger in. 397 00:21:43,140 --> 00:21:43,440 Speaker 1: Wow. 398 00:21:44,359 --> 00:21:48,320 Speaker 2: Yeah. Isn't that amazing? Like, this is some amazing stuff. Yeah. 399 00:21:48,340 --> 00:21:51,639 Speaker 1: And I didn't see, I saw that hornets can sting 400 00:21:51,900 --> 00:21:55,220 Speaker 1: again and again and again. But I don't know about 401 00:21:55,480 --> 00:21:57,070 Speaker 1: the wasp in general. Is that the case? 402 00:21:57,109 --> 00:21:57,770 Speaker 2: Yes, definitely. 403 00:21:57,850 --> 00:21:58,090 Speaker 1: Okay. 404 00:21:59,290 --> 00:22:01,310 Speaker 2: Because a hornet is just a type of wasp. So 405 00:22:01,330 --> 00:22:03,490 Speaker 2: you've got like mud daubers, the kind of wasp. A 406 00:22:03,530 --> 00:22:05,910 Speaker 2: hornet is a kind of wasp. And there's like many 407 00:22:05,950 --> 00:22:10,330 Speaker 2: types of hornets, but they're all wasps. That's right. You know? 408 00:22:10,859 --> 00:22:13,080 Speaker 2: So yeah, they can sting again and again and again, 409 00:22:13,340 --> 00:22:16,040 Speaker 2: which apparently is another reason why their sting hurts so bad. 410 00:22:16,080 --> 00:22:18,240 Speaker 2: They can do this to you and inject this venom 411 00:22:18,300 --> 00:22:21,340 Speaker 2: into you. I saw one expert interviewed on a different 412 00:22:21,660 --> 00:22:25,430 Speaker 2: HowStuffWorks article. that said an average of 10 times. Like 413 00:22:25,470 --> 00:22:28,090 Speaker 2: if you get stung by a wasp, usually you're going 414 00:22:28,109 --> 00:22:30,070 Speaker 2: to get stung more than once, and it can be 415 00:22:30,070 --> 00:22:33,149 Speaker 2: 10 times, I guess, on average. I don't know if 416 00:22:33,190 --> 00:22:35,430 Speaker 2: they just pulled that out of the air, but they 417 00:22:35,470 --> 00:22:37,390 Speaker 2: were a wasp expert, so hopefully not. 418 00:22:37,630 --> 00:22:40,200 Speaker 1: Well, you know those murder hornets that are making the 419 00:22:40,260 --> 00:22:43,520 Speaker 1: news these days in the States? Those things can kill 420 00:22:43,600 --> 00:22:46,439 Speaker 1: small rodents with a full charge of a sting. 421 00:22:47,240 --> 00:22:47,480 Speaker 2: Right. 422 00:22:48,080 --> 00:22:52,500 Speaker 1: The Asian giant hornet, which they found, I think, three 423 00:22:52,540 --> 00:22:56,330 Speaker 1: of them in the Pacific Northwest that they thought they 424 00:22:56,369 --> 00:22:58,250 Speaker 1: got rid of last year, but it turns out they 425 00:22:58,270 --> 00:23:02,890 Speaker 1: survived the winter. A queen did. And, you know, they 426 00:23:02,930 --> 00:23:06,230 Speaker 1: call them murder hornets because they kill bees. And those, 427 00:23:06,430 --> 00:23:08,720 Speaker 1: I didn't know this. It was a big, because it 428 00:23:08,740 --> 00:23:11,169 Speaker 1: was just sort of a back page thing. But in 2016, 429 00:23:11,160 --> 00:23:14,960 Speaker 1: a package of murder hornets was intercepted at San Francisco 430 00:23:15,460 --> 00:23:19,930 Speaker 1: International Airport. And they destroyed that. So it didn't become 431 00:23:19,970 --> 00:23:22,189 Speaker 1: a thing. But They're a real threat to bees, so 432 00:23:22,210 --> 00:23:25,709 Speaker 1: that's why people are sort of writing about murder hornets 433 00:23:25,750 --> 00:23:29,429 Speaker 1: now invading as an invasive species here in the U.S. 434 00:23:30,369 --> 00:23:33,510 Speaker 2: Yeah, and I mean, like, it's really doing an injustice 435 00:23:33,590 --> 00:23:37,450 Speaker 2: to the hornets, unfortunately, because calling them murder hornets, like, 436 00:23:37,490 --> 00:23:39,390 Speaker 2: if you read some of the articles on it, like, 437 00:23:39,490 --> 00:23:42,630 Speaker 2: people will say outright, like, you know, they can kill 438 00:23:42,670 --> 00:23:47,010 Speaker 2: people very easily, and that's just absolutely not true. And 439 00:23:47,030 --> 00:23:48,649 Speaker 2: it makes it sound like they're a threat to humans. 440 00:23:49,010 --> 00:23:51,639 Speaker 2: Like you said, the big threat is to honeybees. And 441 00:23:51,720 --> 00:23:55,820 Speaker 2: specifically it's to European honeybees because they haven't evolved around 442 00:23:57,119 --> 00:24:01,919 Speaker 2: murder hornets or Asian giant hornets. Asian honeybees have, and 443 00:24:01,960 --> 00:24:05,570 Speaker 2: they actually have a defense to where when the giant 444 00:24:05,609 --> 00:24:08,690 Speaker 2: hornets show up, like you were saying, they just, like 445 00:24:08,810 --> 00:24:11,510 Speaker 2: murder hornet is a good term if you're a honeybee. 446 00:24:11,530 --> 00:24:11,790 Speaker 1: Mm-hmm. 447 00:24:12,450 --> 00:24:14,810 Speaker 2: Because just a few of them showing up at a 448 00:24:14,869 --> 00:24:18,350 Speaker 2: hive can just destroy a colony in a few hours. 449 00:24:18,690 --> 00:24:21,990 Speaker 2: And they do it in a really brutal way. They 450 00:24:22,030 --> 00:24:26,609 Speaker 2: decapitate the bees and just kill an entire colony in 451 00:24:26,630 --> 00:24:28,669 Speaker 2: a few hours. And they do it because they're one 452 00:24:28,690 --> 00:24:33,340 Speaker 2: of the few species that they're omnivorous, but most of 453 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:37,220 Speaker 2: their food comes from meat. They're mostly carnivores. So they're 454 00:24:37,320 --> 00:24:41,580 Speaker 2: eating all these bees, basically. Human babies. Yeah, they just 455 00:24:41,619 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 2: carry your baby right off out of its crib. But 456 00:24:45,540 --> 00:24:47,879 Speaker 2: they can wipe out a whole colony like this. If 457 00:24:47,900 --> 00:24:52,550 Speaker 2: they run into an Asian honeybee colony, those bees have 458 00:24:52,590 --> 00:24:55,750 Speaker 2: developed a response where they'll swarm around one of the 459 00:24:55,830 --> 00:24:58,750 Speaker 2: Asian giant hornets and they'll flap their wings a bunch 460 00:24:59,090 --> 00:25:03,110 Speaker 2: and generate heat and they'll cook the hornet alive inside 461 00:25:03,170 --> 00:25:07,119 Speaker 2: the swarm. That's their defense. European honeybees, which make up 462 00:25:07,160 --> 00:25:08,899 Speaker 2: a lot of the honeybees, most of the honeybees in 463 00:25:08,940 --> 00:25:11,379 Speaker 2: the United States, They don't have that defense. So it's 464 00:25:11,420 --> 00:25:14,600 Speaker 2: a big problem if the Asian giant hornet gets a 465 00:25:14,660 --> 00:25:15,360 Speaker 2: foothold here. 466 00:25:16,050 --> 00:25:17,409 Speaker 1: Yeah, and it will pack a lot more of a 467 00:25:17,460 --> 00:25:22,830 Speaker 1: punch too. They have about seven times potency as a 468 00:25:22,990 --> 00:25:26,610 Speaker 1: honeybee's venom. And as far as the pain scale, they 469 00:25:26,650 --> 00:25:31,550 Speaker 1: likened it, getting stung by a murder hornet is, they 470 00:25:31,570 --> 00:25:34,450 Speaker 1: likened it to like between three and ten, like if 471 00:25:34,470 --> 00:25:36,850 Speaker 1: you were to be stung by three to ten yellow 472 00:25:36,890 --> 00:25:37,850 Speaker 1: jackets all at once. 473 00:25:39,130 --> 00:25:41,659 Speaker 2: It's so awful. Yeah. Because the yellow jacket sting is 474 00:25:41,700 --> 00:25:43,580 Speaker 2: nothing to sneeze at either. I mean, that's a kind 475 00:25:43,640 --> 00:25:44,500 Speaker 2: of wasp, you know? 476 00:25:44,760 --> 00:25:46,520 Speaker 1: Yeah. I don't get, I haven't been stung in a long, 477 00:25:46,560 --> 00:25:47,500 Speaker 1: long time. Knock wood. 478 00:25:48,220 --> 00:25:51,040 Speaker 2: Knock on wood. I got stung a couple summers ago. 479 00:25:51,359 --> 00:25:53,660 Speaker 1: I'm not allergic or anything, but, you know, my story, 480 00:25:53,700 --> 00:25:55,760 Speaker 1: I told it back with the bee thing, was when 481 00:25:55,780 --> 00:25:57,940 Speaker 1: I was hiking that time and I got tagged 11 482 00:25:57,940 --> 00:26:00,070 Speaker 1: times in the face and neck. 483 00:26:00,970 --> 00:26:01,610 Speaker 2: Oh, man. 484 00:26:01,670 --> 00:26:04,630 Speaker 1: When I stumbled, it was one of those underground hives 485 00:26:05,670 --> 00:26:08,570 Speaker 1: that I just walked over and, you know, you see it. 486 00:26:08,869 --> 00:26:10,469 Speaker 1: two or three bees, you're like, oh, what's going on? 487 00:26:10,490 --> 00:26:12,670 Speaker 1: Then you see 10 and then all of a sudden 488 00:26:12,910 --> 00:26:16,080 Speaker 1: they're everywhere and you're just running like a moron through 489 00:26:16,100 --> 00:26:19,400 Speaker 1: the woods toward the river basically. But yeah, I got 490 00:26:19,420 --> 00:26:24,460 Speaker 1: hit 11 times and, uh, you know, that could have 491 00:26:24,480 --> 00:26:25,960 Speaker 1: killed me if I was allergic out in the middle 492 00:26:25,980 --> 00:26:27,520 Speaker 1: of nowhere like that. Sure. 493 00:26:27,740 --> 00:26:30,240 Speaker 2: I thought you were allergic. So we just lied on 494 00:26:30,280 --> 00:26:31,800 Speaker 2: the episode of the stuff you. 495 00:26:31,740 --> 00:26:35,219 Speaker 1: Should know TV show. Yeah. It was painful that there 496 00:26:35,240 --> 00:26:38,730 Speaker 1: was one I think that got the deepest on my 497 00:26:39,030 --> 00:26:42,990 Speaker 1: eyebrow bone, my orbital bone. And it went straight through 498 00:26:43,030 --> 00:26:45,350 Speaker 1: and I could almost feel it on my bone. And 499 00:26:45,390 --> 00:26:47,750 Speaker 1: that's the one, like I had a hard time getting 500 00:26:47,790 --> 00:26:50,750 Speaker 1: it out. It was so embedded. And it felt like somebody, 501 00:26:50,869 --> 00:26:55,090 Speaker 1: and I know I used the same analogy back then, 502 00:26:55,170 --> 00:26:58,010 Speaker 1: but it felt like somebody had a tiny little, you know, 503 00:26:58,030 --> 00:27:00,570 Speaker 1: the little nails you hang pictures with. It felt like 504 00:27:00,609 --> 00:27:02,909 Speaker 1: somebody had that poking that bone and they were just 505 00:27:02,950 --> 00:27:06,230 Speaker 1: tapping it with a hammer in this like regular beat. 506 00:27:07,090 --> 00:27:07,730 Speaker 2: That is awful. 507 00:27:07,750 --> 00:27:08,389 Speaker 1: It was terrible. 508 00:27:09,690 --> 00:27:12,840 Speaker 2: Man alive. Yeah, it sounds like you stepped on a 509 00:27:12,940 --> 00:27:16,080 Speaker 2: yellow jacket nest because they nest in the ground. 510 00:27:16,200 --> 00:27:19,220 Speaker 1: And they follow you, too. Like, they were going to 511 00:27:19,240 --> 00:27:20,580 Speaker 1: come after me until I got there. 512 00:27:20,600 --> 00:27:23,160 Speaker 2: Where are you going, huh? 513 00:27:23,369 --> 00:27:25,030 Speaker 1: I think we should take a break, maybe, and talk 514 00:27:25,050 --> 00:27:26,250 Speaker 1: about nesting right after this. 515 00:27:27,490 --> 00:27:51,629 Speaker 2: Yeah. Okay, Chuck, so we're moving on from venom. I 516 00:27:51,670 --> 00:27:55,170 Speaker 2: think we made our point. Venom from wasps is pretty serious. 517 00:27:57,060 --> 00:28:01,000 Speaker 2: And if you want to avoid getting injected with venom 518 00:28:01,060 --> 00:28:03,520 Speaker 2: from wasps, you want to learn to know what a 519 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:06,000 Speaker 2: wasp nest looks like so you can avoid the wasp 520 00:28:06,040 --> 00:28:10,710 Speaker 2: nest altogether. Because some wasps are more aggressive than others. 521 00:28:11,369 --> 00:28:13,149 Speaker 2: And if you get anywhere near their nest, they're going 522 00:28:13,170 --> 00:28:14,930 Speaker 2: to be like, let me just give you a little 523 00:28:14,970 --> 00:28:18,620 Speaker 2: lesson about getting close to my nest. And they'll sting you, right? 524 00:28:18,880 --> 00:28:19,000 Speaker 1: Yes. 525 00:28:19,040 --> 00:28:23,580 Speaker 2: You want to get away. So the kinds of nests 526 00:28:23,780 --> 00:28:27,659 Speaker 2: that you see hanging from trees, that's a kind of 527 00:28:27,700 --> 00:28:32,390 Speaker 2: wasp nest. That's a paper wasp nest. There's mud dauber nests. 528 00:28:32,910 --> 00:28:35,970 Speaker 2: There's nests in the ground that are yellow jacket nests. 529 00:28:36,340 --> 00:28:38,760 Speaker 2: Wasps make a bunch of different kinds of nests. And 530 00:28:38,800 --> 00:28:40,790 Speaker 2: for you to survive in the world, you have to 531 00:28:40,850 --> 00:28:43,030 Speaker 2: know what each one looks like and be able to 532 00:28:43,230 --> 00:28:45,230 Speaker 2: sense them out with your nose. 533 00:28:46,070 --> 00:28:49,650 Speaker 1: Yeah, when I think of wasp nest, in Georgia at least, 534 00:28:50,270 --> 00:28:54,990 Speaker 1: I think of that honeycomb style where it's just a 535 00:28:55,050 --> 00:28:57,490 Speaker 1: bunch of little tiny holes and it looks like it's 536 00:28:57,580 --> 00:29:00,520 Speaker 1: made out of paper because it kind of is in 537 00:29:00,560 --> 00:29:00,820 Speaker 1: a way. 538 00:29:01,740 --> 00:29:07,040 Speaker 2: Yeah, I think those are bald-faced hornets. Or wasps. I 539 00:29:07,060 --> 00:29:07,870 Speaker 2: can't remember which one. 540 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:08,900 Speaker 1: I think those are the wasps. 541 00:29:09,630 --> 00:29:12,790 Speaker 2: And they actually chew up wood fragments that they'll get from, say, 542 00:29:12,810 --> 00:29:15,750 Speaker 2: like your deck or if your kid only has those 543 00:29:15,830 --> 00:29:18,230 Speaker 2: old-timey wood toys, they might chew those up if they're 544 00:29:18,250 --> 00:29:20,830 Speaker 2: in the yard. And then they take that and turn 545 00:29:20,850 --> 00:29:23,670 Speaker 2: it into actual pulp, like paper, and they spit it 546 00:29:23,790 --> 00:29:26,810 Speaker 2: out and make basically a papier-mâché nest. 547 00:29:26,850 --> 00:29:27,150 Speaker 1: Yeah. 548 00:29:27,820 --> 00:29:30,440 Speaker 2: Which is pretty impressive. But that's why those things look 549 00:29:30,460 --> 00:29:32,360 Speaker 2: like they're papier-mâché because they basically are. 550 00:29:32,560 --> 00:29:34,000 Speaker 1: Yeah, and they're light like papier-mâché. 551 00:29:34,120 --> 00:29:34,300 Speaker 2: Yeah. 552 00:29:35,300 --> 00:29:37,280 Speaker 1: And they're fairly intricate if you look at them. They have, 553 00:29:37,850 --> 00:29:40,320 Speaker 1: some of them have what looks like little roof eaves 554 00:29:41,400 --> 00:29:44,060 Speaker 1: um they can be they're like i said super light 555 00:29:44,080 --> 00:29:47,740 Speaker 1: so they can be dangling from a really small sort 556 00:29:47,780 --> 00:29:50,770 Speaker 1: of thread like uh i don't even know what you 557 00:29:50,790 --> 00:29:54,850 Speaker 1: would call it just a Thread? Yeah, sort of like thread, 558 00:29:54,870 --> 00:29:55,170 Speaker 1: I guess. 559 00:29:55,830 --> 00:29:56,770 Speaker 2: Suspension cable? 560 00:29:56,990 --> 00:29:58,470 Speaker 1: Yeah, suspension cable, exactly. 561 00:29:58,510 --> 00:30:00,320 Speaker 2: We'll go with that because it sounds like it's a 562 00:30:00,340 --> 00:30:02,800 Speaker 2: little sturdier. Although, is that the kind that you found 563 00:30:02,860 --> 00:30:03,640 Speaker 2: in your yard today? 564 00:30:04,020 --> 00:30:07,920 Speaker 1: Yeah, I found one of those laying on the ground. 565 00:30:08,420 --> 00:30:11,340 Speaker 1: When I was a kid, you know the big hornet's 566 00:30:11,400 --> 00:30:15,620 Speaker 1: nests that are the big sort of, also sort of 567 00:30:15,640 --> 00:30:18,160 Speaker 1: looks like papier-mâché, but it's more gray and it doesn't 568 00:30:18,200 --> 00:30:21,930 Speaker 1: have the little holes. It's just got one central entry point. 569 00:30:22,460 --> 00:30:25,390 Speaker 1: And it's about as big as a football. Yeah. Those 570 00:30:25,410 --> 00:30:28,630 Speaker 1: were sort of like country decor. Did you ever know 571 00:30:28,690 --> 00:30:30,970 Speaker 1: anyone who had one of those in their house? Yes. 572 00:30:31,210 --> 00:30:32,550 Speaker 2: Murderers, serial killers. 573 00:30:33,110 --> 00:30:35,820 Speaker 1: We had one. My dad climbed up a tree to 574 00:30:35,860 --> 00:30:39,140 Speaker 1: get one of these. It was emptied, thank goodness. And 575 00:30:39,160 --> 00:30:41,660 Speaker 1: we had that thing, you know, mounted on a log 576 00:30:41,720 --> 00:30:43,200 Speaker 1: above our fireplace for years. 577 00:30:44,040 --> 00:30:44,420 Speaker 2: Really? 578 00:30:44,480 --> 00:30:45,460 Speaker 1: Yeah. That was weird. 579 00:30:45,480 --> 00:30:49,260 Speaker 2: Wow, that's fascinating. Yeah. I don't remember which kind that is, 580 00:30:49,340 --> 00:30:52,340 Speaker 2: and I mean, I've looked at so much stuff about wasps. 581 00:30:52,360 --> 00:30:55,000 Speaker 1: I think it was the white-faced hornet, if I'm not mistaken. 582 00:30:55,280 --> 00:30:56,660 Speaker 2: Okay, is that who it is? All right, yeah. 583 00:30:56,680 --> 00:30:57,500 Speaker 1: They're very aggressive. 584 00:30:57,540 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 2: Those things can get pretty big, and they're big. Like 585 00:31:02,220 --> 00:31:04,090 Speaker 2: you said, the size of a football, their nests can 586 00:31:04,110 --> 00:31:08,810 Speaker 2: get pretty big. But yeah, that's a good one to avoid. 587 00:31:08,870 --> 00:31:10,430 Speaker 2: I didn't realize that they were aggressive, huh? 588 00:31:10,730 --> 00:31:12,850 Speaker 1: Yeah, you don't want to mess around with one of 589 00:31:12,890 --> 00:31:14,890 Speaker 1: those nests. You don't want to go poking it. 590 00:31:15,710 --> 00:31:18,310 Speaker 2: From what I saw though, mud daubers, which actually make 591 00:31:18,390 --> 00:31:20,390 Speaker 2: theirs out of mud, they're the ones that, you know, 592 00:31:20,430 --> 00:31:22,890 Speaker 2: those tubes that usually come down from like the ceiling 593 00:31:22,910 --> 00:31:25,870 Speaker 2: down the wall. Those are actually mud tubes that the 594 00:31:25,930 --> 00:31:29,290 Speaker 2: mud dauber has made. And mud daubers, we should say, 595 00:31:29,310 --> 00:31:33,040 Speaker 2: they're basically two kinds of wasps in the world, wasps 596 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:37,380 Speaker 2: and hornets. Social and solitary. And solitary is exactly what 597 00:31:37,400 --> 00:31:40,760 Speaker 2: it sounds like. It's just a single wasp, a female, 598 00:31:41,120 --> 00:31:44,220 Speaker 2: living on her own. She'll mate with some male wasp 599 00:31:44,260 --> 00:31:47,680 Speaker 2: and then go off. make her own nest, either burrowing 600 00:31:47,740 --> 00:31:49,740 Speaker 2: into the ground or if she's a mud dauber, she'll 601 00:31:49,780 --> 00:31:51,700 Speaker 2: make a mud nest. So when you see a mud 602 00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:55,200 Speaker 2: dauber's nest, like stop and be like, I respect that 603 00:31:55,340 --> 00:31:58,300 Speaker 2: because that was made by one single wasp on her 604 00:31:58,420 --> 00:32:03,220 Speaker 2: own with zero help whatsoever. She made that nest, which 605 00:32:03,240 --> 00:32:06,850 Speaker 2: I just find extremely impressive by chewing up mud and 606 00:32:06,870 --> 00:32:10,730 Speaker 2: just slowly but surely building it, spinning mud out onto 607 00:32:10,770 --> 00:32:11,130 Speaker 2: the wall. 608 00:32:11,690 --> 00:32:15,230 Speaker 1: Yeah. And if you're a social wasp, you are It's 609 00:32:15,250 --> 00:32:17,550 Speaker 1: sort of bee-like in that they're working for the queen, 610 00:32:18,650 --> 00:32:20,390 Speaker 1: maybe more than one queen even. But you have these 611 00:32:20,470 --> 00:32:24,320 Speaker 1: male drones that are there to mate. And you have 612 00:32:24,340 --> 00:32:27,040 Speaker 1: these female workers who build the nest and they hunt 613 00:32:27,080 --> 00:32:30,580 Speaker 1: for food and tend to these little larvae. But it's 614 00:32:30,620 --> 00:32:34,140 Speaker 1: basically all about getting the queen to live through the 615 00:32:34,200 --> 00:32:37,710 Speaker 1: winter to the next season. Like they will all leave 616 00:32:37,750 --> 00:32:40,090 Speaker 1: the nest. And I think the queen is the only 617 00:32:40,130 --> 00:32:41,690 Speaker 1: thing that overwinters. Isn't that right? 618 00:32:42,570 --> 00:32:42,810 Speaker 2: Yeah. 619 00:32:42,990 --> 00:32:43,190 Speaker 1: Yeah. 620 00:32:43,250 --> 00:32:46,250 Speaker 2: The queen. Yeah. If they raise queen larvae, um, the 621 00:32:46,290 --> 00:32:49,670 Speaker 2: queen will, will live until the next winter and start 622 00:32:50,170 --> 00:32:54,930 Speaker 2: over again, basically creating eggs of, uh, sterile female workers 623 00:32:55,030 --> 00:32:57,710 Speaker 2: to help her to hatch and then help her build 624 00:32:57,750 --> 00:33:02,130 Speaker 2: up the hive, raise, um, male drones or no, is 625 00:33:02,170 --> 00:33:04,990 Speaker 2: the drone, the worker? No drones, a male that's just 626 00:33:05,070 --> 00:33:06,110 Speaker 2: used for reproduction. Right. 627 00:33:06,130 --> 00:33:06,310 Speaker 1: Yeah. 628 00:33:07,270 --> 00:33:11,170 Speaker 2: Um, and then eventually raise little queens. Um, So it's 629 00:33:11,190 --> 00:33:14,990 Speaker 2: pretty interesting, especially as far as social insects go. There 630 00:33:15,010 --> 00:33:19,640 Speaker 2: are very few species of social wasps and hornets, but 631 00:33:19,680 --> 00:33:25,520 Speaker 2: the ones that are, they're highly social, even among social insects. 632 00:33:26,000 --> 00:33:32,010 Speaker 2: They have pretty intricate, complex societies. Some of the social 633 00:33:32,050 --> 00:33:37,110 Speaker 2: wasp nests, I think including yellow jackets, will have multiple queens, 634 00:33:37,650 --> 00:33:40,320 Speaker 2: and there's one head queen that, who has basically beaten 635 00:33:40,400 --> 00:33:44,420 Speaker 2: up other queens to establish her dominance. And then she'll 636 00:33:44,440 --> 00:33:47,440 Speaker 2: have the most eggs. And then the next layer down 637 00:33:47,460 --> 00:33:50,020 Speaker 2: will have the second most eggs and so on and 638 00:33:50,060 --> 00:33:52,320 Speaker 2: so forth. And that takes like a certain amount of 639 00:33:52,380 --> 00:33:57,810 Speaker 2: cooperation to maintain and respect that type of hierarchy to 640 00:33:57,870 --> 00:34:01,210 Speaker 2: keep that society functioning the way it should, especially considering 641 00:34:01,490 --> 00:34:04,870 Speaker 2: you have to reinvent the wheel every year after winter 642 00:34:04,950 --> 00:34:06,030 Speaker 2: comes and goes. Yeah. 643 00:34:06,630 --> 00:34:09,259 Speaker 1: Yeah, absolutely. And they talk to each other, too, in 644 00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:13,700 Speaker 1: a way. They communicate, especially if there's a threat via pheromones. 645 00:34:14,100 --> 00:34:17,700 Speaker 1: So that's why you are more likely to get swarmed 646 00:34:18,280 --> 00:34:21,380 Speaker 1: rather than just like if you're an actual threat to 647 00:34:21,420 --> 00:34:24,740 Speaker 1: a nest. They can send a signal that says, hey, everybody, 648 00:34:24,800 --> 00:34:26,819 Speaker 1: this jerk over here has got a this kid has 649 00:34:26,840 --> 00:34:29,339 Speaker 1: got a stick and he's coming at us. Yeah. Let's 650 00:34:29,360 --> 00:34:29,620 Speaker 1: get them. 651 00:34:29,719 --> 00:34:33,370 Speaker 2: And if they die, actually, they release that. It's like 652 00:34:33,410 --> 00:34:36,489 Speaker 2: a byproduct of their death is releasing that same pheromone. 653 00:34:36,510 --> 00:34:37,350 Speaker 1: Yeah, man down. 654 00:34:37,410 --> 00:34:40,469 Speaker 2: Basically, they turn into like Harry Dean Stanton in Red 655 00:34:40,550 --> 00:34:46,799 Speaker 2: Dawn where they're like, avenge me. I have that one 656 00:34:46,820 --> 00:34:47,680 Speaker 2: written down. 657 00:34:48,880 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: I guess you didn't see the video then of the 658 00:34:52,160 --> 00:34:55,040 Speaker 1: tarantula hawk since you're not into those. 659 00:34:55,800 --> 00:34:58,100 Speaker 2: No, but I've seen one in person, actually. 660 00:34:58,219 --> 00:35:00,819 Speaker 1: Yeah, the pepsis wasp is known as the tarantula hawk 661 00:35:00,880 --> 00:35:05,560 Speaker 1: because they lay eggs inside of a paralyzed tarantula, and 662 00:35:05,580 --> 00:35:09,379 Speaker 1: the larvae eat the tarantula from the inside out. And 663 00:35:09,580 --> 00:35:11,660 Speaker 1: I was like, I've got to see this. And, of course, 664 00:35:11,719 --> 00:35:16,060 Speaker 1: on YouTube, there is a pepsis wasp battling it out 665 00:35:16,080 --> 00:35:20,180 Speaker 1: with a tarantula, and it's no match. And it paralyzes 666 00:35:20,239 --> 00:35:24,770 Speaker 1: this tarantula and drags him back, like, a great distance. 667 00:35:26,140 --> 00:35:29,240 Speaker 1: You see a wasp pulling this tarantula across the ground. 668 00:35:30,060 --> 00:35:33,730 Speaker 2: Which is much, much, much larger. But the tarantula, like 669 00:35:33,750 --> 00:35:36,610 Speaker 2: you said, is no match. And even among humans, I 670 00:35:36,650 --> 00:35:41,690 Speaker 2: think the tarantula hawk's sting is like a four out 671 00:35:41,730 --> 00:35:45,029 Speaker 2: of four on the Schmidt pain scale. Like it's as 672 00:35:45,070 --> 00:35:45,950 Speaker 2: bad as it gets. 673 00:35:46,230 --> 00:35:48,210 Speaker 1: Because you know why? They ask Mr. Schmidt, how bad 674 00:35:48,230 --> 00:35:50,910 Speaker 1: does it hurt? And he's like, oh, my gosh, it's terrible. 675 00:35:50,950 --> 00:35:56,820 Speaker 2: He said, yeah, ow. But yes, and they're very bright 676 00:35:56,900 --> 00:36:01,280 Speaker 2: blue and orange too, which is another indicator like stay away. 677 00:36:01,300 --> 00:36:04,290 Speaker 2: If you see anything that's really colorful, just assume it 678 00:36:04,310 --> 00:36:05,549 Speaker 2: can mess you up pretty good. 679 00:36:05,630 --> 00:36:06,230 Speaker 1: Yeah, don't lick that. 680 00:36:06,250 --> 00:36:07,509 Speaker 2: With the tarantula hawk, that's the case. 681 00:36:07,550 --> 00:36:08,830 Speaker 1: Don't lick that colorful frog. 682 00:36:09,750 --> 00:36:13,569 Speaker 2: So, but even if it's not a wasp taking down 683 00:36:13,590 --> 00:36:16,660 Speaker 2: a tarantula and laying eggs inside it that eat the 684 00:36:16,780 --> 00:36:20,719 Speaker 2: tarantula from the inside out, almost all wasp species, if 685 00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 2: not 100% of wasp species, Like we said, they raise 686 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:29,839 Speaker 2: their young by paralyzing other insects, dragging them to their 687 00:36:29,880 --> 00:36:33,090 Speaker 2: nest and laying the eggs nearby, leaving the bug to 688 00:36:33,120 --> 00:36:35,989 Speaker 2: be paralyzed and still alive when the egg hatches and 689 00:36:36,050 --> 00:36:40,230 Speaker 2: larva crawls over and starts eating that bug alive. And 690 00:36:40,250 --> 00:36:42,350 Speaker 2: this is one reason why wasps have such a bad 691 00:36:42,410 --> 00:36:45,930 Speaker 2: rap because it's just such a brutal circle of life. 692 00:36:45,989 --> 00:36:49,510 Speaker 2: It really is. Yeah, especially from the perspective of the insect. 693 00:36:49,870 --> 00:36:53,910 Speaker 2: And apparently Charles Darwin said, when he witnessed this happening 694 00:36:53,930 --> 00:36:56,930 Speaker 2: to a cute little caterpillar, that it made it difficult 695 00:36:56,969 --> 00:37:00,370 Speaker 2: for him to believe in an omnipresent and beneficent God. 696 00:37:01,130 --> 00:37:04,819 Speaker 2: Because what kind of God would allow a cute little 697 00:37:05,180 --> 00:37:08,540 Speaker 2: caterpillar to do that? The thing is, Charles Darwin, I mean, 698 00:37:08,580 --> 00:37:10,940 Speaker 2: he liked to putz around in the garden, but he 699 00:37:10,980 --> 00:37:14,060 Speaker 2: was not a farmer. If you're a farmer, you're probably 700 00:37:14,120 --> 00:37:16,410 Speaker 2: kind of happy to see a wasp larva eating a 701 00:37:16,450 --> 00:37:20,770 Speaker 2: caterpillar because caterpillars eat your crops. And if you ask me... 702 00:37:21,950 --> 00:37:24,250 Speaker 2: this is where we get to the part about the 703 00:37:24,510 --> 00:37:26,810 Speaker 2: roles that wasps play in the ecosystem and why you 704 00:37:26,830 --> 00:37:28,489 Speaker 2: shouldn't just go willy-nilly killing them. 705 00:37:28,830 --> 00:37:31,910 Speaker 1: Yeah, I mean, they'll bring in wasps. Farmers will sometimes 706 00:37:32,510 --> 00:37:36,299 Speaker 1: if they have, like, an insect issue because the wasp 707 00:37:36,360 --> 00:37:38,640 Speaker 1: is going to take care of that naturally and you 708 00:37:38,660 --> 00:37:41,279 Speaker 1: won't have to use, you know, insecticide and stuff like that. 709 00:37:42,140 --> 00:37:45,320 Speaker 2: No, so plus also bees are usually kind of finicky, 710 00:37:45,400 --> 00:37:47,799 Speaker 2: I saw, as far as what they'll pollinate and what 711 00:37:47,840 --> 00:37:51,520 Speaker 2: they won't. Wasps are not at all finicky. They'll pollinate whatever. 712 00:37:51,940 --> 00:37:55,100 Speaker 2: So they're non-selected pollinators, which makes them, like you can 713 00:37:55,180 --> 00:37:57,160 Speaker 2: use them to pollinate any kind of crop, which makes 714 00:37:57,200 --> 00:38:02,850 Speaker 2: them pretty helpful. And so they control other crop-destroying insects, 715 00:38:03,489 --> 00:38:07,130 Speaker 2: and they also pollinate crops too. So they are pretty useful. 716 00:38:07,590 --> 00:38:10,069 Speaker 2: So that means that you shouldn't just go around killing them. 717 00:38:10,110 --> 00:38:11,310 Speaker 2: I think we should say it again. 718 00:38:11,590 --> 00:38:15,390 Speaker 1: No, you shouldn't kill anything except mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks. 719 00:38:16,340 --> 00:38:18,680 Speaker 2: And you also can't say, well, they're a threat to 720 00:38:18,719 --> 00:38:22,200 Speaker 2: humans because I looked up some stats, Chuck. You ready 721 00:38:22,219 --> 00:38:22,560 Speaker 2: for this? 722 00:38:22,780 --> 00:38:24,500 Speaker 1: Yeah. You're not going to get killed from a wasp, 723 00:38:24,580 --> 00:38:24,839 Speaker 1: are you? 724 00:38:25,560 --> 00:38:31,820 Speaker 2: No. I mean, yeah, but no, you're not. So combined, bees, wasps, 725 00:38:31,910 --> 00:38:34,350 Speaker 2: and hornets, and hornets are just another type of wasp. 726 00:38:34,810 --> 00:38:36,210 Speaker 1: Is that so? Yeah. 727 00:38:37,110 --> 00:38:41,830 Speaker 2: I hadn't heard. They kill about 62 Americans every year 728 00:38:42,310 --> 00:38:43,989 Speaker 2: from anaphylactic shock, right? 729 00:38:44,390 --> 00:38:44,750 Speaker 1: Oh, wow. 730 00:38:44,790 --> 00:38:49,010 Speaker 2: By contrast— 300 Americans die from falling off of ladders 731 00:38:49,090 --> 00:38:55,210 Speaker 2: every year. In the UK, get this, between 2006 and 2007, 732 00:38:55,210 --> 00:38:59,700 Speaker 2: eight people died from bees, wasps, or hornet stings. I'm 733 00:38:59,739 --> 00:39:02,840 Speaker 2: including bees here, by the way. And then in Australia, 734 00:39:03,020 --> 00:39:05,239 Speaker 2: where you would guess that half the human population is 735 00:39:05,280 --> 00:39:07,640 Speaker 2: killed off every year by bees and wasps and has 736 00:39:07,660 --> 00:39:11,420 Speaker 2: to regenerate every spring. Now, between 2000 and 2013, there 737 00:39:11,440 --> 00:39:18,840 Speaker 2: were only 27 deaths total For that 13 years from bees, wasps, 738 00:39:18,900 --> 00:39:21,850 Speaker 2: and hornet stings, which is pretty astounding. But it all 739 00:39:21,890 --> 00:39:24,770 Speaker 2: goes to say, like, don't listen to the murder hornet rap. 740 00:39:25,170 --> 00:39:27,170 Speaker 2: The hornets and the wasps aren't out to kill you. 741 00:39:27,510 --> 00:39:29,370 Speaker 2: They don't want you anywhere near their nests. 742 00:39:29,730 --> 00:39:29,850 Speaker 1: But. 743 00:39:29,969 --> 00:39:33,129 Speaker 2: They're not, like, trying to wipe out your family. They 744 00:39:33,150 --> 00:39:35,030 Speaker 2: just want to be left alone, basically. 745 00:39:35,410 --> 00:39:38,350 Speaker 1: The murder hornet rap? Yeah. Now, here is a hornet, 746 00:39:38,410 --> 00:39:41,190 Speaker 1: and it's here to say, I come to kill peace. 747 00:39:41,210 --> 00:39:42,710 Speaker 2: I love fruity pebbles in a major way. 748 00:39:44,750 --> 00:39:46,969 Speaker 1: I think, I can't wait to re-listen to this one, 749 00:39:46,989 --> 00:39:49,979 Speaker 1: because I'm pretty sure you said, that they kill 62 750 00:39:49,980 --> 00:39:53,800 Speaker 1: million Americans every year. No. I think you did. I 751 00:39:54,280 --> 00:39:55,759 Speaker 1: might have been hearing things. It might have been a 752 00:39:55,800 --> 00:39:56,440 Speaker 1: computer glitch. 753 00:39:57,219 --> 00:39:59,779 Speaker 2: Just 62. Okay. Six to the two. 754 00:40:01,180 --> 00:40:04,020 Speaker 1: I really am curious if you said million. 755 00:40:04,840 --> 00:40:05,299 Speaker 2: We'll find out. 756 00:40:05,320 --> 00:40:09,290 Speaker 1: That'll be an Easter egg for us only. So, yeah, 757 00:40:09,350 --> 00:40:11,910 Speaker 1: don't kill the wasps. If you have what you think 758 00:40:11,969 --> 00:40:17,050 Speaker 1: is a wasp problem at your house, You really don't 759 00:40:17,300 --> 00:40:19,259 Speaker 1: unless it's, you know, I mean, if you have a 760 00:40:19,320 --> 00:40:22,680 Speaker 1: really big wasp nest like right above your front door 761 00:40:22,700 --> 00:40:25,819 Speaker 1: or something, I could see maybe a case being made 762 00:40:25,880 --> 00:40:28,360 Speaker 1: for removing it, having it professionally removed. 763 00:40:29,060 --> 00:40:31,020 Speaker 2: Or if your kids are playing out back and there's 764 00:40:31,060 --> 00:40:34,440 Speaker 2: a sinkhole from a Yellow Jackets underground nest where there's 765 00:40:34,660 --> 00:40:35,660 Speaker 2: hundreds of Yellow Jackets. 766 00:40:35,680 --> 00:40:36,239 Speaker 1: And if you're allergic. 767 00:40:36,260 --> 00:40:37,580 Speaker 2: I could see getting that removed too. 768 00:40:37,980 --> 00:40:40,339 Speaker 1: But in general, like wasps aren't after you. They don't 769 00:40:40,360 --> 00:40:43,279 Speaker 1: want anything to do with you. They're not aggressive toward 770 00:40:43,300 --> 00:40:45,820 Speaker 1: humans unless you come poking their thing with a stick. 771 00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,069 Speaker 1: I love this. Robert says, and this takes like nerves 772 00:40:50,110 --> 00:40:51,950 Speaker 1: of steel, and he's like, if one lands on you, 773 00:40:53,630 --> 00:40:57,310 Speaker 1: don't panic. Avoid swatting it or making swift movements. Just 774 00:40:57,350 --> 00:41:00,549 Speaker 1: kind of sit there and it'll quickly fly off. Like, 775 00:41:00,670 --> 00:41:02,050 Speaker 1: I don't want to kill a wasp, but if a 776 00:41:02,070 --> 00:41:03,920 Speaker 1: wasp lands on my arm, I'm not going to be like, 777 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:08,560 Speaker 1: all right, little fella, you're just going to give you 778 00:41:08,580 --> 00:41:09,260 Speaker 1: some time. 779 00:41:09,280 --> 00:41:10,800 Speaker 2: Go mosey along. 780 00:41:10,820 --> 00:41:14,240 Speaker 1: No, I would freak out and flail. I wouldn't swat 781 00:41:14,300 --> 00:41:16,240 Speaker 1: at it because... I feel like I would get stung 782 00:41:16,260 --> 00:41:21,379 Speaker 1: for sure, but I would definitely do a, you know, ah! Right. 783 00:41:21,920 --> 00:41:23,640 Speaker 2: You got to try not to do that. You have 784 00:41:23,660 --> 00:41:25,610 Speaker 2: to listen to Robert and don't panic. 785 00:41:25,640 --> 00:41:26,280 Speaker 1: Good luck. 786 00:41:27,050 --> 00:41:29,290 Speaker 2: Every time I see don't panic in the wild, I 787 00:41:29,350 --> 00:41:31,830 Speaker 2: just assume that it's a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide 788 00:41:31,850 --> 00:41:33,009 Speaker 2: to the Galaxy. Don't you? 789 00:41:33,190 --> 00:41:35,390 Speaker 1: Yeah, I think so. 790 00:41:35,810 --> 00:41:38,750 Speaker 2: So there's standing still. That's one thing when one lands 791 00:41:38,870 --> 00:41:43,620 Speaker 2: on you. Okay. Okay. That's great. Things you can do 792 00:41:43,660 --> 00:41:45,759 Speaker 2: to keep them from landing on you, though, are to 793 00:41:45,900 --> 00:41:49,280 Speaker 2: not wear white and yellow outdoors. Yeah. Okay? 794 00:41:49,520 --> 00:41:52,520 Speaker 1: I like white and yellow. 795 00:41:52,800 --> 00:41:56,250 Speaker 2: Yellow doesn't look good on me anyway. But those colors 796 00:41:56,270 --> 00:41:59,850 Speaker 2: attract insects. You don't want to wear perfume because you 797 00:41:59,890 --> 00:42:01,770 Speaker 2: may confuse them into thinking you're a flower. 798 00:42:02,230 --> 00:42:02,510 Speaker 1: Sure. 799 00:42:03,570 --> 00:42:07,009 Speaker 2: If you have your garbage can uncovered, don't stand next 800 00:42:07,070 --> 00:42:09,129 Speaker 2: to it. You want to cover your garbage can. 801 00:42:10,460 --> 00:42:14,160 Speaker 1: Yeah, especially if you're us. I always call it the 802 00:42:14,360 --> 00:42:18,140 Speaker 1: stinkiest garbage can in Atlanta. I think it's so nasty. 803 00:42:18,219 --> 00:42:19,410 Speaker 2: Ours is pretty bad too. 804 00:42:20,010 --> 00:42:21,270 Speaker 1: It's a lot of years of cat litter. 805 00:42:22,550 --> 00:42:23,650 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah, that's a stink. 806 00:42:23,690 --> 00:42:24,410 Speaker 1: Dog poop. 807 00:42:25,350 --> 00:42:30,650 Speaker 2: And then you can take down nests yourself if it's 808 00:42:31,010 --> 00:42:35,680 Speaker 2: below 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15.5 degrees Celsius because they're 809 00:42:35,719 --> 00:42:38,620 Speaker 2: probably dead in there anyway. So it's a good time 810 00:42:38,660 --> 00:42:40,890 Speaker 2: to take it down. But for the most part, we're 811 00:42:40,910 --> 00:42:44,110 Speaker 2: just going to go ahead and say don't take down 812 00:42:44,130 --> 00:42:46,730 Speaker 2: a wasp nest that you want out of your yard 813 00:42:46,790 --> 00:42:49,950 Speaker 2: by yourself. Just don't do it. Hire a professional. There 814 00:42:49,969 --> 00:42:52,910 Speaker 2: are people who will take money in exchange for coming 815 00:42:52,950 --> 00:42:55,890 Speaker 2: to get a nest out of your yard. You can 816 00:42:55,969 --> 00:42:58,900 Speaker 2: give them money for that, and they know what they're doing. 817 00:42:59,020 --> 00:43:02,799 Speaker 2: So you can feel good about that, about hiring them. 818 00:43:03,180 --> 00:43:04,920 Speaker 2: And it also supports local business too. 819 00:43:05,380 --> 00:43:10,420 Speaker 1: Yeah, and don't get that– wasp spray that sprays from, like, 820 00:43:10,420 --> 00:43:13,299 Speaker 1: 20 feet away and just go home and, like, attack 821 00:43:13,340 --> 00:43:16,640 Speaker 1: these nests with poison. Just don't do it. 822 00:43:18,070 --> 00:43:18,250 Speaker 2: No. 823 00:43:18,330 --> 00:43:19,110 Speaker 1: Stop killing things. 824 00:43:21,110 --> 00:43:22,750 Speaker 2: What else you got? I got one more thing. You 825 00:43:22,790 --> 00:43:23,390 Speaker 2: have anything else? 826 00:43:23,430 --> 00:43:23,629 Speaker 1: Nope. 827 00:43:24,550 --> 00:43:28,770 Speaker 2: Okay, so in Japan, it always circles back to Japan, 828 00:43:28,810 --> 00:43:29,470 Speaker 2: doesn't it, Chuck? 829 00:43:29,810 --> 00:43:31,910 Speaker 1: Yeah, if it's quality and good. 830 00:43:32,930 --> 00:43:39,890 Speaker 2: Including the Asian giant wasp as well as yellow jackets 831 00:43:39,950 --> 00:43:43,730 Speaker 2: and some other types of wasps. Japanese culture or culinary 832 00:43:43,790 --> 00:43:48,440 Speaker 2: culture loves wasp larva. But to get wasp larva, you 833 00:43:48,460 --> 00:43:50,820 Speaker 2: have to go out in the wild, find a wasp's 834 00:43:50,900 --> 00:43:53,380 Speaker 2: nest in the summer, and then take it back home 835 00:43:53,640 --> 00:43:58,180 Speaker 2: without getting stung and raise the larva yourself. And then 836 00:43:58,239 --> 00:44:00,529 Speaker 2: when they're ready to go, you harvest them and eat 837 00:44:00,570 --> 00:44:02,969 Speaker 2: them in the fall, which is pretty interesting in and 838 00:44:03,010 --> 00:44:06,569 Speaker 2: of itself, right? Yes. It gets even more interesting than that. 839 00:44:07,000 --> 00:44:10,620 Speaker 2: Because to find a wasp nest in the woods, what 840 00:44:10,640 --> 00:44:13,700 Speaker 2: they do is they take raw fish. Japanese love raw fish, 841 00:44:13,780 --> 00:44:17,100 Speaker 2: but they share some of theirs with wasps. And they 842 00:44:17,140 --> 00:44:18,990 Speaker 2: leave it out as bait. And then when a wasp 843 00:44:19,050 --> 00:44:21,730 Speaker 2: shows up, they'll take chopsticks and a little hunk of 844 00:44:22,130 --> 00:44:25,350 Speaker 2: this fish meat that they have a string tied to. 845 00:44:25,530 --> 00:44:27,490 Speaker 2: And they'll hand it to the wasp. And the wasp 846 00:44:27,530 --> 00:44:29,649 Speaker 2: will fly off with the hunk of fish to take 847 00:44:29,690 --> 00:44:33,280 Speaker 2: back to its larva, its eggs, with the string dangling, 848 00:44:33,410 --> 00:44:35,940 Speaker 2: which makes it easier to follow back to the nest. 849 00:44:36,780 --> 00:44:39,739 Speaker 2: And after doing this a few times, they're probably successful 850 00:44:39,780 --> 00:44:41,520 Speaker 2: enough that they track the wasp all the way back. 851 00:44:41,540 --> 00:44:43,580 Speaker 2: They don't lose it. And they find the nest, and 852 00:44:43,600 --> 00:44:45,239 Speaker 2: then that's when they take it home and tend to 853 00:44:45,260 --> 00:44:47,319 Speaker 2: the larva. And then they eat it in the fall. 854 00:44:47,920 --> 00:44:49,920 Speaker 1: That sounds familiar for some reason. I might have heard 855 00:44:49,940 --> 00:44:50,340 Speaker 1: that before. 856 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:51,620 Speaker 2: Isn't that cool? 857 00:44:51,640 --> 00:44:52,120 Speaker 1: It's amazing. 858 00:44:53,680 --> 00:44:56,280 Speaker 2: Amazing. Well, that's all I've got for wasp, Chuck. 859 00:44:57,320 --> 00:44:58,120 Speaker 1: Wasp out. 860 00:44:59,820 --> 00:45:02,980 Speaker 2: So since Chuck said wasp out, that means it's time 861 00:45:03,020 --> 00:45:03,899 Speaker 2: for listener mail. 862 00:45:06,080 --> 00:45:10,280 Speaker 1: I'm going to call this, Adam, I think you were wrong, 863 00:45:10,340 --> 00:45:13,210 Speaker 1: and Josh was referencing They Might Be Giants. It's a 864 00:45:13,250 --> 00:45:13,970 Speaker 1: long-winded title. 865 00:45:14,650 --> 00:45:14,910 Speaker 2: Okay. 866 00:45:14,950 --> 00:45:16,610 Speaker 1: Hey, guys, in your episode, How We Almost Got Rid 867 00:45:16,630 --> 00:45:19,589 Speaker 1: of Polio, you read a listener mail that referred to 868 00:45:19,670 --> 00:45:24,680 Speaker 1: How Flamethrowers Work episode. However, I'm somewhat sad that the 869 00:45:24,719 --> 00:45:28,500 Speaker 1: reference wasn't made for the They Might Be Giants song. Istanbul, 870 00:45:28,520 --> 00:45:32,480 Speaker 1: not Constantinople. Josh made the statement, and it was a 871 00:45:32,500 --> 00:45:36,609 Speaker 1: wonderful wasted opportunity. Well, that's exactly what you're talking about, right? 872 00:45:38,030 --> 00:45:40,020 Speaker 2: Yeah, I said not Constantinople. 873 00:45:40,600 --> 00:45:43,259 Speaker 1: Yeah, you were talking about the They Might Be Giants song, right? 874 00:45:43,940 --> 00:45:45,810 Speaker 2: Yeah, of course. This guy doesn't get me. 875 00:45:45,840 --> 00:45:47,700 Speaker 1: He just didn't say, hey, by the way, that's the 876 00:45:47,780 --> 00:45:48,779 Speaker 1: They Might Be Giants song. 877 00:45:49,080 --> 00:45:53,130 Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, open up for the spoon feeding. 878 00:45:54,010 --> 00:45:55,430 Speaker 1: Just thought I'd drop you both a line. I love 879 00:45:55,450 --> 00:45:57,170 Speaker 1: the show and enjoy listening to it daily to and 880 00:45:57,190 --> 00:46:00,529 Speaker 1: from work, especially the wit and dry humor. Even though 881 00:46:00,550 --> 00:46:01,870 Speaker 1: it goes over your head sometimes. 882 00:46:02,380 --> 00:46:02,879 Speaker 2: Yeah, right. 883 00:46:02,930 --> 00:46:04,839 Speaker 1: He said, it's very much my style, so much so 884 00:46:05,300 --> 00:46:07,859 Speaker 1: that you aren't sure if there was a joke even told. Wow, 885 00:46:07,900 --> 00:46:10,840 Speaker 1: this is getting very meta. You both make my commute 886 00:46:10,880 --> 00:46:14,520 Speaker 1: tolerable and enjoyable. Thanks, guys. That is from Adam P. 887 00:46:14,620 --> 00:46:16,529 Speaker 1: in Gulfport, Mississippi. 888 00:46:17,350 --> 00:46:20,710 Speaker 2: Nice. Adam, for you, from now on, whenever I make 889 00:46:20,750 --> 00:46:25,050 Speaker 2: a joke, I'm going to add waka waka at the end. 890 00:46:25,410 --> 00:46:25,870 Speaker 1: That'll do it. 891 00:46:25,890 --> 00:46:28,860 Speaker 2: That'll be just for Adam. Thanks a lot, Adam. We 892 00:46:28,880 --> 00:46:31,239 Speaker 2: appreciate that. Thank you for listening to us and for 893 00:46:31,300 --> 00:46:34,040 Speaker 2: letting us rag on you. We do it lovingly and jokingly. 894 00:46:34,219 --> 00:46:34,879 Speaker 2: We hope you know. 895 00:46:34,960 --> 00:46:35,279 Speaker 1: Of course. 896 00:46:35,560 --> 00:46:37,580 Speaker 2: If you want us to rag on you, well, you 897 00:46:37,620 --> 00:46:40,060 Speaker 2: send us an email and see what you get. Look 898 00:46:40,120 --> 00:46:43,100 Speaker 2: up and see what you get. You can send it 899 00:46:43,140 --> 00:46:46,549 Speaker 2: to stuffpodcasts at iheartradio.com. 900 00:46:49,850 --> 00:46:52,690 Speaker 1: Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 901 00:46:52,710 --> 00:46:55,569 Speaker 1: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app. 902 00:46:56,000 --> 00:46:57,029 Speaker 2: Apple Podcasts, or 903 00:46:57,050 --> 00:46:58,750 Speaker 1: Wherever you listen to your favorite shows.