WEBVTT - Selects: Wasps: Not as cute as bees

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<v Speaker 1>Hi, everybody. Happy Saturday. We are rolling through COVID one

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<v Speaker 1>episode at a time every other week with me, your host,

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<v Speaker 1>COVID Chuck. I had it three times, so I can

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<v Speaker 1>call myself that. August 4th, 2020, middle of the summer

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<v Speaker 1>during COVID, people are out and about a little bit

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<v Speaker 1>as far as getting out into nature at this point

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<v Speaker 1>because it's summertime, but they're still keeping their distance, hopefully

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<v Speaker 1>still masking up, and hopefully listening to this episode at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, wasps, You know what's coming. Colon, not as

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<v Speaker 1>cute as bees. And you can check that out right now.

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<v Speaker 2>Welcome to Stuff You Should Know, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey,

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<v Speaker 2>and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh Clark. There's Charles W.

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<v Speaker 2>Chuck Bryant here. Jerry's out there somewhere, which makes this

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<v Speaker 2>stuff you should nezzo.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, old school insect dish from Robert Lamb.

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<v Speaker 2>I know, it's got mouth parts in it, but it's

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<v Speaker 2>no Tracy Wilson joint.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it's Tracy.

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<v Speaker 2>But it's still good. It's super charming. Robert starts this

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<v Speaker 2>article out from the perspective of a spider who has

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<v Speaker 2>been dragged into a wasp's nest and is about to

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<v Speaker 2>be eaten alive by a wasp larvae.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It's pretty interesting.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>It's a good article, I guess is what I'm trying

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<v Speaker 2>to say. And if you are not familiar with Robert Lamb,

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<v Speaker 2>then friends, you are missing out on not one, but two, no,

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<v Speaker 2>three really great podcasts that that guy has put out.

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<v Speaker 2>What is it? Stuff to Blow Your Mind?

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<v Speaker 1>Of course, the stalwart science tech, well, not tech, sort

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<v Speaker 1>of science plus show.

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<v Speaker 2>Yes. Yeah, yeah. In-depth, like super deep rabbit hole, interesting stuff.

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<v Speaker 2>And then he did one called Transhuman.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, that's a fiction, scripted sci-fi. Very cool.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and then also he and Joe, who he does

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<v Speaker 2>Stuff to Blow Your Mind With, also do Invention, too,

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<v Speaker 2>which is kind of an in-depth rabbit hole thing about Invention.

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<v Speaker 2>So check all those out, everybody.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it was fun to kind of get back to

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<v Speaker 1>basics with a nice little insect cast on wasps. And, dude,

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<v Speaker 1>I went outside today on my side deck to let

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<v Speaker 1>the dogs out, and lo and behold, I looked— Whoop, whoop, whoop. What?

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<v Speaker 2>You said who let the dogs out.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, sorry.

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<v Speaker 2>You said let the dogs out, so I had to.

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<v Speaker 1>I thought you were saying wait, wait, wait.

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<v Speaker 2>No, no, I was saying whoop, whoop, whoop, whoop.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, boy. That was a wasp nest on the ground.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, good. All right. Sorry, did I knock the legs

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<v Speaker 2>out from under that story?

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<v Speaker 1>No, it was just a wasp nest, but it was,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, the timing of it all. Was it live? Oh,

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<v Speaker 1>I didn't poke it to see. It was not attached.

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<v Speaker 1>I think it had fallen, so... My guess is that

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<v Speaker 1>it did not have any more wasps residing in it.

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<v Speaker 2>Man, that's got to be a real letdown because it's

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<v Speaker 2>the middle of summer right now. So they're wanting to

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<v Speaker 2>like grow. There was probably larva in there. Huh.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>That's really weird. They must have abandoned it then. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>And wasps are, you know, I think, you know, everyone

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<v Speaker 1>loves the bees now because they should because bees are

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<v Speaker 1>awesome and bees produce honey and we want bees to

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<v Speaker 1>stick around. But I think wasps and hornets, which are

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<v Speaker 1>a type of wasps, are still just so maligned. And

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<v Speaker 1>they're the ones that people will reach for their can

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<v Speaker 1>of raid to spray.

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<v Speaker 2>With no qualms.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and you shouldn't. Don't do it. Let the wasp live.

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<v Speaker 1>I'll go ahead and say it now. We're going to

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<v Speaker 1>say it a bunch. But let them live.

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<v Speaker 2>Totally, Chuck. Thank you. Yeah, we're here to open everyone's

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<v Speaker 2>eyes to the function and purpose of wasps' existence. They're

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<v Speaker 2>not like mosquitoes. Remember in the mosquitoes episode, we basically

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<v Speaker 2>concluded that there's no reason for mosquitoes to be around.

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<v Speaker 2>And they just are terrible. Wasps are not like that.

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<v Speaker 2>And I think Robert does a really good job of

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<v Speaker 2>basically pinning down why wasps get such a bad rap.

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<v Speaker 2>One is that their stings pack such a wallop compared

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<v Speaker 2>to other stinging insects.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, it hurts.

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<v Speaker 2>And we'll talk about their stings and the venom that

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<v Speaker 2>goes along with it. which is so, okay, that's fair.

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<v Speaker 2>Like nobody wants to be stung by a wasp. It's really,

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<v Speaker 2>it can ruin your day. And then also the other

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<v Speaker 2>thing is, is that if you pay attention to wasps,

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<v Speaker 2>you realize that they live these really brutal, grizzled existences.

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<v Speaker 2>They're predators. And in fact, in their habitats, they're apex predators.

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<v Speaker 2>They're like sharks and lions. But for the bugs and

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<v Speaker 2>sometimes small animals that live around there, Like, I didn't

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<v Speaker 2>watch any of the videos that I could have because

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<v Speaker 2>I'm just really over animal death, even if it's nature.

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<v Speaker 1>Oh, really? Yeah. Yeah, that's Emily.

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<v Speaker 2>When I was doing The End of the World with

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<v Speaker 2>Josh Clark, like, I went into it just feeling fine

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<v Speaker 2>about that. It's just nature. That's the way things work.

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<v Speaker 2>And then one of the guys I talked to is

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<v Speaker 2>David Pierce, who you and I talked to actually first

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<v Speaker 2>in our Super Stuff Guide to Happiness. Oh, yeah. But

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<v Speaker 2>I went back and interviewed him, and his whole jam

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<v Speaker 2>is Like, we could actually eventually engineer the biosphere so

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<v Speaker 2>that there isn't any suffering among animals. And, like, what

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<v Speaker 2>we take as natural doesn't necessarily have to be that way.

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<v Speaker 2>And it's really changed how I view, like, violence even

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<v Speaker 2>among animals. So, anyway, the upshot is I didn't watch

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<v Speaker 2>any videos. But one of the ones that I saw,

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<v Speaker 2>the title was Wasp Kills Baby Bird. So that video's

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<v Speaker 2>out there if you want to see that, but I

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<v Speaker 2>just can't. I don't like to see that stuff anymore,

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<v Speaker 2>you know? Yeah. I mean, I didn't really, like, enjoy

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<v Speaker 2>it before, but now it just downright bothers me.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I get it. I live with a person who

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<v Speaker 1>can't watch anything like that, so I get it. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 1>So there are more than 20,000 species of wasp, and

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<v Speaker 1>like I said, hornets are a kind of wasp, so

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<v Speaker 1>if you hear, I mean, you would call a hornet

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<v Speaker 1>a hornet, but you can't necessarily use them interchangeably, but

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<v Speaker 1>A hornet is a wasp. And there's a lot of,

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<v Speaker 1>you know, over that 20,000 species, there are a lot

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<v Speaker 1>of different kinds and a lot of variety as far

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<v Speaker 1>as what they look like and what they're shaped like

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<v Speaker 1>and what color they are and how they like to

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<v Speaker 1>live their life. But as with every insect cast, we're

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<v Speaker 1>going to go over those body parts.

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<v Speaker 2>Sure. Because mouth parts is in there somewhere.

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<v Speaker 1>And it starts with an exoskeleton, just like all the

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<v Speaker 1>little insect buddies have that. chitin exoskeleton and in the

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<v Speaker 1>case of the wasp they are very segmented out they

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<v Speaker 1>have three segments they get your head which has got

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<v Speaker 1>those antennae the sensory antennae you got those mouth parts

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<v Speaker 1>because they lick and they bite and then you have

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<v Speaker 1>the very cool looking compound eyes and simple eyes these

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<v Speaker 1>sort of kidney shaped eyes of a wasp that are

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<v Speaker 1>very sort of signature.

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<v Speaker 2>What are they known as in your italian accent Ocelli.

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<v Speaker 2>So in the Italian, if a vowel follows a C,

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<v Speaker 2>it makes a ch. Yeah, it makes a ch sound.

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<v Speaker 2>If a C is followed by an H, it makes

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<v Speaker 2>a ch sound.

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<v Speaker 1>So is this really pronounced ocelli?

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Okay. I think among biologists, they probably say ocelli.

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<v Speaker 2>But since you're doing the accent, I wanted to set

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<v Speaker 2>you up for a lesson in Italian.

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<v Speaker 1>I appreciate that.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay, so you've got the head. It has some eyes.

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<v Speaker 2>It also has a brain, Chuck.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>Which I saw supposedly wasps are among the smarter insects

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<v Speaker 2>out there. They can recognize each other by face, by

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<v Speaker 2>facial markings. Did you know that?

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah. Hey, Steve. How you doing? Sting anyone?

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<v Speaker 2>I'm doing okay, Ted. Thanks for asking. Just killed a

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<v Speaker 2>baby bird. Some weirdo was filming it and put it

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<v Speaker 2>on the internet.

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<v Speaker 1>Well, actually, Steve would say, no, I didn't sting anyone

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<v Speaker 1>because I'm a man and I don't sting.

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<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, that's a really great point, Chuck, which we'll

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<v Speaker 2>talk more about later. You'd find the stinger in the abdomen,

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<v Speaker 2>which is the third part, the lowest part of the

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<v Speaker 2>wasp's body, but only in a female, which I think

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<v Speaker 2>this is true for bees, too, if I'm not mistaken.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I don't remember. We've done a lot of good

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<v Speaker 1>bee stuff. Yeah, for sure. And then in between those things,

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<v Speaker 1>you've got the thorax, which has the six little legs,

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<v Speaker 1>and then those really quick flapping wings. Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>So in between the thorax and the abdomen, you have

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<v Speaker 2>a very narrow waist, which usually is what gives away

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<v Speaker 2>a wasp. You can look at it and be like,

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<v Speaker 2>that's a wasp. It's like it's got a corset on.

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<v Speaker 2>Unless it's a hornet. Hornets are much chunkier, more rotund.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

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<v Speaker 2>But they are, like you said, a kind of wasp.

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<v Speaker 2>And actually, I think the genus that hornets fall under

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<v Speaker 2>is called Vespa. And Vespa in Italian means wasp. So

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<v Speaker 2>hornets are wasps in Italian.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay.

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<v Speaker 2>Okay.

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<v Speaker 1>So I think one of the coolest things about the

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<v Speaker 1>wasp is the history and the evolution of this thing,

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<v Speaker 1>along with some pretty horrific stuff that's going to follow.

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<v Speaker 1>But about in the Cretaceous period, about 100 million years ago,

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<v Speaker 1>you had to kind of take a snapshot of planet

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<v Speaker 1>Earth to understand how the wasp forms. And back then,

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<v Speaker 1>they didn't have all these flowering plants like we have now.

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<v Speaker 1>There were a lot of conifers. And these evergreens depended

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<v Speaker 1>on the wind to spread their seed around. They weren't

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<v Speaker 1>counting on the insects to do this kind of thing

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<v Speaker 1>at this point. And we should also mention that ants

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<v Speaker 1>are a cousin of the wasp, which makes sense. They

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<v Speaker 1>look kind of ant-like.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. I think they finally figured out that ants evolved

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<v Speaker 2>out of mud daubers. They're their closest relative.

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<v Speaker 1>Okay.

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<v Speaker 2>Which kind of makes sense. I think they have some

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<v Speaker 2>ant-like behavior.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, ant-like. So, during the Cretaceous period, these wasps were carnivores.

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<v Speaker 1>and they preyed on spiders and other insects. And as

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<v Speaker 1>plants started to evolve, they realized that, Hey, there's a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of insects flying around, going back and forth. Like

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<v Speaker 1>we're just using the wind to carry our seed around.

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<v Speaker 1>Why don't we, why don't we get these insects to

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<v Speaker 1>work for us basically? And they can do the job.

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<v Speaker 2>Yeah. So that was the rise of the angiosperms. Um,

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<v Speaker 2>which is, you know, whenever you think of a flower

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<v Speaker 2>that the bee visits and moves from place to place

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<v Speaker 2>carrying pollen, that's what an angiosperm is. Rather than having

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<v Speaker 2>to just depend on the wind, you can depend on

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<v Speaker 2>the insects. And so eventually over time, these wasps, these

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<v Speaker 2>early predators that used to feed exclusively on other insects said, well,

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<v Speaker 2>you know what, this whole nectar thing and the pollen thing,

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<v Speaker 2>I can get with this. So they started to change

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<v Speaker 2>their diet from insects to pollen and nectar. But the

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<v Speaker 2>weird thing is, is rather than developing a way to

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<v Speaker 2>feed their young from pollen and nectar, like honeybees, which

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<v Speaker 2>I think is another reason people like bees and don't

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<v Speaker 2>really realize it, realize it, is that they're little vegetarian

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<v Speaker 2>vegan animals.

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<v Speaker 1>Yeah, maybe.

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<v Speaker 2>You know, they don't hurt anybody. They'll still defend themselves,

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<v Speaker 2>but they don't want to go hurt anybody. They're very peaceful.

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<v Speaker 2>Wasps are not like that because even though they generally,

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<v Speaker 2>most species of wasp, adults, eat nectar and pollen, they

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<v Speaker 2>still kill other insects to drag back to their nests

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<v Speaker 2>to feed their young, to raise their young on. So

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<v Speaker 2>wasps are technically omnivores. At the beginning of their life,

0:12:00.620 --> 0:12:03.819
<v Speaker 2>they're carnivores, and then later in life, they grow into herbivores.

0:12:04.300 --> 0:12:06.559
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, isn't that amazing? It is.

0:12:06.640 --> 0:12:09.100
<v Speaker 2>Wasps are way more amazing than I realized.

0:12:09.960 --> 0:12:11.400
<v Speaker 1>Should we take a break and talk about their stinger?

0:12:12.700 --> 0:12:12.880
<v Speaker 2>Yes.

0:12:13.170 --> 0:12:36.750
<v Speaker 1>All right. We'll be right back for Stinger Talk. All right.

0:12:36.790 --> 0:12:39.050
<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Stinger Talk. I'm Chuck.

0:12:41.050 --> 0:12:42.910
<v Speaker 2>I'm Josh. I'm, wait, no, I'm Ted.

0:12:44.410 --> 0:12:45.390
<v Speaker 1>I guess that makes me Steve.

0:12:46.090 --> 0:12:47.210
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:12:47.250 --> 0:12:51.550
<v Speaker 1>Wasp stings are tough. You kind of mentioned early on, it's,

0:12:52.179 --> 0:12:55.620
<v Speaker 1>you know, you get a yellow jacket and that doesn't

0:12:55.640 --> 0:12:59.200
<v Speaker 1>feel great. And obviously we're talking about if you're non-allergic

0:12:59.280 --> 0:13:01.660
<v Speaker 1>and it's not like a legitimate threat to your health

0:13:01.740 --> 0:13:03.939
<v Speaker 1>and it's just the pain of the sting that we're

0:13:04.000 --> 0:13:06.900
<v Speaker 1>rating here. Yellow jacket sting isn't great, but a wasp

0:13:06.940 --> 0:13:10.830
<v Speaker 1>sting And a hornet sting is really something else. I

0:13:11.809 --> 0:13:14.189
<v Speaker 1>feel like it hurts more and for longer.

0:13:15.070 --> 0:13:19.270
<v Speaker 2>And for good reason, because it actually does. Bee venom

0:13:19.690 --> 0:13:22.069
<v Speaker 2>is its own thing. It shares a lot in common

0:13:22.110 --> 0:13:27.470
<v Speaker 2>with wasp venom. Wasp venom seems to be this extraordinarily

0:13:27.590 --> 0:13:34.320
<v Speaker 2>highly developed biological weapon that is this cocktail of different

0:13:34.380 --> 0:13:38.819
<v Speaker 2>kinds of compounds. that all come together to produce a

0:13:38.940 --> 0:13:43.780
<v Speaker 2>horrible pain sensation that lasts longer and has a greater

0:13:43.880 --> 0:13:48.110
<v Speaker 2>impact on your body than anything the actual sting produces.

0:13:48.410 --> 0:13:51.790
<v Speaker 2>And that's apparently the whole reason behind it, is it

0:13:51.890 --> 0:13:57.550
<v Speaker 2>makes the wasps seem way less vulnerable than they actually are.

0:13:57.590 --> 0:13:59.929
<v Speaker 2>It seems like they're way more powerful. And for all

0:13:59.970 --> 0:14:02.970
<v Speaker 2>intents and purposes, they are. But, like, if you could

0:14:02.990 --> 0:14:05.839
<v Speaker 2>take the venom out of the sting... the sting would

0:14:05.880 --> 0:14:09.380
<v Speaker 2>do basically nothing to you. But because the venom is

0:14:09.420 --> 0:14:12.859
<v Speaker 2>introduced by that sting, that venom is so potent, it's

0:14:12.960 --> 0:14:14.960
<v Speaker 2>like one of the worst things in the world to

0:14:14.980 --> 0:14:15.959
<v Speaker 2>get stung by a wasp.

0:14:16.460 --> 0:14:20.100
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and the actual stinger itself has a pretty remarkable

0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:24.380
<v Speaker 1>evolutionary story. So here's what happens. In the prehistoric times,

0:14:24.420 --> 0:14:28.920
<v Speaker 1>this parasitic wasp would use this ovipositor. That's actually the

0:14:28.980 --> 0:14:31.800
<v Speaker 1>egg-laying organ. They would use this pointy thing to lay

0:14:31.820 --> 0:14:35.040
<v Speaker 1>the egg On a living insect, like they would lay

0:14:35.100 --> 0:14:38.440
<v Speaker 1>the egg on the caterpillar, then these little larvae would

0:14:38.460 --> 0:14:40.800
<v Speaker 1>hatch out, and then they would eat that caterpillar, the

0:14:40.840 --> 0:14:44.740
<v Speaker 1>larvae would. So at some point, as things are evolving along,

0:14:45.250 --> 0:14:47.120
<v Speaker 1>Mother Nature says, you know what would be even better

0:14:47.160 --> 0:14:52.270
<v Speaker 1>than this is if you could saw open that caterpillar

0:14:53.030 --> 0:14:56.510
<v Speaker 1>with this ovipositor and lay eggs inside of this thing.

0:14:57.170 --> 0:14:58.570
<v Speaker 1>And that's exactly what happened.

0:14:59.690 --> 0:15:02.350
<v Speaker 2>Right. which made a lot of sense. And I think

0:15:02.390 --> 0:15:05.720
<v Speaker 2>there's a lot of wasp species, or there's at least

0:15:05.760 --> 0:15:08.600
<v Speaker 2>some that still do this. Like rather than build a nest,

0:15:08.640 --> 0:15:11.580
<v Speaker 2>they just go find an insect host and lay some

0:15:11.620 --> 0:15:13.200
<v Speaker 2>eggs on it or lay some eggs in it and

0:15:13.240 --> 0:15:19.180
<v Speaker 2>then just let the larvae eat the inside out. But most,

0:15:19.490 --> 0:15:21.890
<v Speaker 2>I think, have evolved to kind of use some different techniques,

0:15:21.930 --> 0:15:24.450
<v Speaker 2>which we'll talk about in a little bit. But the

0:15:24.990 --> 0:15:29.340
<v Speaker 2>stinger itself stuck around Even after it stopped being used

0:15:29.360 --> 0:15:33.460
<v Speaker 2>to actually deposit eggs into the insects directly.

0:15:33.880 --> 0:15:36.800
<v Speaker 1>That's right. And you talked about the venom that's obviously

0:15:36.850 --> 0:15:40.370
<v Speaker 1>produced in the venom gland, stored in a little venom sack,

0:15:40.380 --> 0:15:44.110
<v Speaker 1>a little burlap sack inside the wasp body. And then

0:15:44.470 --> 0:15:47.530
<v Speaker 1>it seeps out. It's a barbless stinger. It's just like

0:15:47.570 --> 0:15:50.110
<v Speaker 1>a straight little pointy thing. But it seeps out through

0:15:50.130 --> 0:15:53.750
<v Speaker 1>these little valves and coats the entire stinger. And so

0:15:53.770 --> 0:15:57.420
<v Speaker 1>they store this stinger inside of a sheath and are–

0:15:57.680 --> 0:15:59.500
<v Speaker 1>always kind of ready to use it. And, you know,

0:15:59.520 --> 0:16:01.820
<v Speaker 1>like we said, it's only the females because it was

0:16:01.840 --> 0:16:05.580
<v Speaker 1>an ovipositor, but the males can pretend like, like they'll

0:16:05.620 --> 0:16:08.460
<v Speaker 1>rear their little butt your way and say, stay away

0:16:08.480 --> 0:16:09.840
<v Speaker 1>from me. You don't know if I'm a male or

0:16:09.860 --> 0:16:13.180
<v Speaker 1>a female, right? You don't want to look too closely, right? Right.

0:16:13.240 --> 0:16:15.820
<v Speaker 2>Which is just hilarious. But it also, didn't that show

0:16:15.860 --> 0:16:18.300
<v Speaker 2>like a certain level of intelligence as well?

0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:19.040
<v Speaker 1>I think so.

0:16:19.870 --> 0:16:23.930
<v Speaker 2>Or at the very least there's some, yeah, to bluff,

0:16:24.290 --> 0:16:28.510
<v Speaker 2>you know, that's, that takes intelligence. Um, Which is, I think,

0:16:28.550 --> 0:16:31.210
<v Speaker 2>another indicator that wasps are amazing.

0:16:31.750 --> 0:16:33.930
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and like you sort of hinted at, the reason

0:16:33.950 --> 0:16:37.530
<v Speaker 1>this venom is so powerful is it has a couple

0:16:37.550 --> 0:16:41.890
<v Speaker 1>of functions. One is just the simple function of paralyzing

0:16:41.950 --> 0:16:46.830
<v Speaker 1>those insects, and the other is as a defense. It's

0:16:46.910 --> 0:16:50.510
<v Speaker 1>meant to sting something much, much larger and have that

0:16:50.590 --> 0:16:54.330
<v Speaker 1>thing hurt so bad that it thinks it's hurt a

0:16:54.370 --> 0:16:57.010
<v Speaker 1>lot worse than it is and just wants to get

0:16:57.050 --> 0:16:57.810
<v Speaker 1>out of there, basically.

0:16:58.620 --> 0:17:02.940
<v Speaker 2>Right. And then that combined with their very, usually very

0:17:03.020 --> 0:17:06.119
<v Speaker 2>bright colorings, because, you know, usually the more colorful an

0:17:06.180 --> 0:17:08.400
<v Speaker 2>animal is, the more toxic it is. It's just kind

0:17:08.420 --> 0:17:11.830
<v Speaker 2>of a universal symbol in nature to just steer clear.

0:17:13.090 --> 0:17:17.190
<v Speaker 2>And hornets and wasps typically are fairly colorful as far

0:17:17.230 --> 0:17:20.510
<v Speaker 2>as insects go. So those two things combined can teach

0:17:20.730 --> 0:17:23.990
<v Speaker 2>a larger animal pretty quickly to just leave them alone.

0:17:24.609 --> 0:17:27.990
<v Speaker 2>And that's kind of how wasps have made it this long.

0:17:28.020 --> 0:17:30.740
<v Speaker 2>I mean, They've been around for more than 100 million years,

0:17:30.780 --> 0:17:31.080
<v Speaker 2>you know?

0:17:31.160 --> 0:17:31.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:17:32.270 --> 0:17:36.530
<v Speaker 2>That's a pretty successful species or family of insects. Yeah.

0:17:36.650 --> 0:17:40.190
<v Speaker 1>And that includes humans, obviously. Sure. If you go poking

0:17:40.210 --> 0:17:42.330
<v Speaker 1>around a hornet's nest or a wasp's nest and you

0:17:42.350 --> 0:17:45.990
<v Speaker 1>get stung, you're not going to finish the job. You're

0:17:46.010 --> 0:17:47.100
<v Speaker 1>probably just going to get out of there.

0:17:48.040 --> 0:17:48.230
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:17:48.900 --> 0:17:49.120
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:17:49.359 --> 0:17:52.340
<v Speaker 2>Hopefully. You can learn your lesson that first time, you know?

0:17:52.440 --> 0:17:52.620
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:17:52.820 --> 0:17:54.600
<v Speaker 2>Or maybe you don't even have to learn it directly.

0:17:54.640 --> 0:17:56.560
<v Speaker 2>You can just know to stay away from the wasp.

0:17:57.100 --> 0:17:57.860
<v Speaker 1>So what's in that venom?

0:17:59.109 --> 0:18:01.690
<v Speaker 2>Oh, some really good stuff. I actually found even more

0:18:01.750 --> 0:18:06.590
<v Speaker 2>stuff than Robert included here. There's some peptides and some enzymes.

0:18:07.930 --> 0:18:14.939
<v Speaker 2>Some of the enzymes include phospholipase A and B. Phospholipase

0:18:14.960 --> 0:18:19.400
<v Speaker 2>A and B. And these actually break down the membrane

0:18:19.609 --> 0:18:24.869
<v Speaker 2>lipid coating of cells in your body to basically spill

0:18:24.890 --> 0:18:29.020
<v Speaker 2>their guts into your bloodstream. And that includes neurons. Neural

0:18:29.060 --> 0:18:32.620
<v Speaker 2>cells can be spilled into your bloodstream when they encounter

0:18:32.680 --> 0:18:39.140
<v Speaker 2>this peptide, which sends an excruciating pain notification to your

0:18:39.160 --> 0:18:43.129
<v Speaker 2>brain saying, alert, alert, you're in a tremendous amount of pain.

0:18:43.710 --> 0:18:45.370
<v Speaker 2>That's just like step one.

0:18:46.070 --> 0:18:50.129
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. They also have norepinephrine in there, which stops the

0:18:50.170 --> 0:18:53.979
<v Speaker 1>blood flow temporarily. And that's why I like that when

0:18:54.020 --> 0:18:56.610
<v Speaker 1>I said it feels like it lasts longer. I feel

0:18:56.630 --> 0:19:00.989
<v Speaker 1>like that's the norepinephrine at work because it just sort

0:19:01.010 --> 0:19:04.090
<v Speaker 1>of sits in one place. And eventually the bloodstream is

0:19:04.109 --> 0:19:05.950
<v Speaker 1>going to kind of dilute it away, but it kind

0:19:05.970 --> 0:19:07.230
<v Speaker 1>of hangs out there for a little while.

0:19:07.869 --> 0:19:13.850
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, that's just mean. There's also acetylcholine, which actually goes

0:19:13.890 --> 0:19:17.150
<v Speaker 2>to your pain receptors and stimulates them, right?

0:19:17.270 --> 0:19:17.470
<v Speaker 1>Wow.

0:19:17.609 --> 0:19:21.690
<v Speaker 2>And there's also histamines. And histamines are released by your body.

0:19:22.090 --> 0:19:28.550
<v Speaker 2>They're responsible for the inflammatory response. But they also, the

0:19:29.030 --> 0:19:34.590
<v Speaker 2>venom in a wasp's venom includes histamines directly, too, just

0:19:34.630 --> 0:19:38.530
<v Speaker 2>to make sure that it gets that inflammation good and primed.

0:19:39.210 --> 0:19:41.390
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and then there's, I was hoping you would take

0:19:41.430 --> 0:19:43.590
<v Speaker 1>this part because of that word. You want to try it?

0:19:44.310 --> 0:19:45.310
<v Speaker 2>Hyaluronidase?

0:19:45.570 --> 0:19:45.810
<v Speaker 1>Oh, well.

0:19:47.340 --> 0:19:51.540
<v Speaker 2>I use hyaluronic acid under my eyes. Oh, do you really? Sure.

0:19:51.619 --> 0:19:52.020
<v Speaker 1>What's that?

0:19:54.420 --> 0:19:56.300
<v Speaker 2>It's like it's an acid.

0:19:56.740 --> 0:19:57.120
<v Speaker 1>What's it for?

0:19:57.140 --> 0:19:58.090
<v Speaker 2>You put it under your eyes.

0:19:59.119 --> 0:19:59.610
<v Speaker 1>I don't know.

0:19:59.630 --> 0:20:00.790
<v Speaker 2>I think for bags.

0:20:01.190 --> 0:20:01.950
<v Speaker 1>Oh, like eye bags?

0:20:01.990 --> 0:20:04.890
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just to keep your eyes looking sharp.

0:20:05.230 --> 0:20:07.850
<v Speaker 1>Oh, wow. I noticed your eyes always look so sharp.

0:20:08.970 --> 0:20:10.389
<v Speaker 2>I thought you'd notice eventually.

0:20:11.250 --> 0:20:14.730
<v Speaker 1>So that thing that you just talked about and then

0:20:14.760 --> 0:20:21.080
<v Speaker 1>something called MCDP, mass cell degranulating peptide. This stuff actually

0:20:21.460 --> 0:20:25.820
<v Speaker 1>melts through the connective tissue between cells and basically just

0:20:25.840 --> 0:20:28.300
<v Speaker 1>sort of it destroys those membranes and allows the venom

0:20:28.740 --> 0:20:31.580
<v Speaker 1>to move a little more freely than it would ordinarily.

0:20:32.470 --> 0:20:38.700
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and the mast cell degranulating peptide, degranulating means that

0:20:38.740 --> 0:20:42.439
<v Speaker 2>it basically goes to your mast cells and squeezes the

0:20:42.500 --> 0:20:45.619
<v Speaker 2>histamines out of them. So not only does it contain

0:20:45.640 --> 0:20:48.980
<v Speaker 2>histamines already, not only does it trigger a histamine response

0:20:49.060 --> 0:20:52.260
<v Speaker 2>or release, it goes and gets it out of the

0:20:52.380 --> 0:20:56.020
<v Speaker 2>cells that normally carry it around in your immune system.

0:20:57.119 --> 0:21:00.020
<v Speaker 2>So it's just really mean, nasty stuff. One of the

0:21:00.040 --> 0:21:02.220
<v Speaker 2>other things I saw that they've just started to kind

0:21:02.280 --> 0:21:08.050
<v Speaker 2>of pay attention to is called bradykinin. And it's associated

0:21:08.070 --> 0:21:12.889
<v Speaker 2>with chronic pain. So on top of acute pain production,

0:21:12.970 --> 0:21:14.810
<v Speaker 2>they're like, how about a little dose of what it

0:21:14.850 --> 0:21:17.050
<v Speaker 2>feels like to have chronic pain, too, in the mix

0:21:17.109 --> 0:21:20.090
<v Speaker 2>of all of this stuff. And then, Chuck, tell me

0:21:20.130 --> 0:21:22.870
<v Speaker 2>this isn't astounding. I got a couple more. One thing

0:21:22.910 --> 0:21:26.340
<v Speaker 2>is just called antigen 5, which is as cryptic as

0:21:26.400 --> 0:21:28.590
<v Speaker 2>it comes. They don't know exactly what role it plays,

0:21:28.609 --> 0:21:31.290
<v Speaker 2>but they know it's a very powerful allergen. And then

0:21:31.310 --> 0:21:35.770
<v Speaker 2>there's a couple of peptides that are antimicrobial, which prevent

0:21:35.830 --> 0:21:40.660
<v Speaker 2>the wasp from contracting an infection from a prey that

0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:42.280
<v Speaker 2>it puts its stinger in.

0:21:43.140 --> 0:21:43.440
<v Speaker 1>Wow.

0:21:44.359 --> 0:21:48.320
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Isn't that amazing? Like, this is some amazing stuff. Yeah.

0:21:48.340 --> 0:21:51.639
<v Speaker 1>And I didn't see, I saw that hornets can sting

0:21:51.900 --> 0:21:55.220
<v Speaker 1>again and again and again. But I don't know about

0:21:55.480 --> 0:21:57.070
<v Speaker 1>the wasp in general. Is that the case?

0:21:57.109 --> 0:21:57.770
<v Speaker 2>Yes, definitely.

0:21:57.850 --> 0:21:58.090
<v Speaker 1>Okay.

0:21:59.290 --> 0:22:01.310
<v Speaker 2>Because a hornet is just a type of wasp. So

0:22:01.330 --> 0:22:03.490
<v Speaker 2>you've got like mud daubers, the kind of wasp. A

0:22:03.530 --> 0:22:05.910
<v Speaker 2>hornet is a kind of wasp. And there's like many

0:22:05.950 --> 0:22:10.330
<v Speaker 2>types of hornets, but they're all wasps. That's right. You know?

0:22:10.859 --> 0:22:13.080
<v Speaker 2>So yeah, they can sting again and again and again,

0:22:13.340 --> 0:22:16.040
<v Speaker 2>which apparently is another reason why their sting hurts so bad.

0:22:16.080 --> 0:22:18.240
<v Speaker 2>They can do this to you and inject this venom

0:22:18.300 --> 0:22:21.340
<v Speaker 2>into you. I saw one expert interviewed on a different

0:22:21.660 --> 0:22:25.430
<v Speaker 2>HowStuffWorks article. that said an average of 10 times. Like

0:22:25.470 --> 0:22:28.090
<v Speaker 2>if you get stung by a wasp, usually you're going

0:22:28.109 --> 0:22:30.070
<v Speaker 2>to get stung more than once, and it can be

0:22:30.070 --> 0:22:33.149
<v Speaker 2>10 times, I guess, on average. I don't know if

0:22:33.190 --> 0:22:35.430
<v Speaker 2>they just pulled that out of the air, but they

0:22:35.470 --> 0:22:37.390
<v Speaker 2>were a wasp expert, so hopefully not.

0:22:37.630 --> 0:22:40.200
<v Speaker 1>Well, you know those murder hornets that are making the

0:22:40.260 --> 0:22:43.520
<v Speaker 1>news these days in the States? Those things can kill

0:22:43.600 --> 0:22:46.439
<v Speaker 1>small rodents with a full charge of a sting.

0:22:47.240 --> 0:22:47.480
<v Speaker 2>Right.

0:22:48.080 --> 0:22:52.500
<v Speaker 1>The Asian giant hornet, which they found, I think, three

0:22:52.540 --> 0:22:56.330
<v Speaker 1>of them in the Pacific Northwest that they thought they

0:22:56.369 --> 0:22:58.250
<v Speaker 1>got rid of last year, but it turns out they

0:22:58.270 --> 0:23:02.890
<v Speaker 1>survived the winter. A queen did. And, you know, they

0:23:02.930 --> 0:23:06.230
<v Speaker 1>call them murder hornets because they kill bees. And those,

0:23:06.430 --> 0:23:08.720
<v Speaker 1>I didn't know this. It was a big, because it

0:23:08.740 --> 0:23:11.169
<v Speaker 1>was just sort of a back page thing. But in 2016,

0:23:11.160 --> 0:23:14.960
<v Speaker 1>a package of murder hornets was intercepted at San Francisco

0:23:15.460 --> 0:23:19.930
<v Speaker 1>International Airport. And they destroyed that. So it didn't become

0:23:19.970 --> 0:23:22.189
<v Speaker 1>a thing. But They're a real threat to bees, so

0:23:22.210 --> 0:23:25.709
<v Speaker 1>that's why people are sort of writing about murder hornets

0:23:25.750 --> 0:23:29.429
<v Speaker 1>now invading as an invasive species here in the U.S.

0:23:30.369 --> 0:23:33.510
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, and I mean, like, it's really doing an injustice

0:23:33.590 --> 0:23:37.450
<v Speaker 2>to the hornets, unfortunately, because calling them murder hornets, like,

0:23:37.490 --> 0:23:39.390
<v Speaker 2>if you read some of the articles on it, like,

0:23:39.490 --> 0:23:42.630
<v Speaker 2>people will say outright, like, you know, they can kill

0:23:42.670 --> 0:23:47.010
<v Speaker 2>people very easily, and that's just absolutely not true. And

0:23:47.030 --> 0:23:48.649
<v Speaker 2>it makes it sound like they're a threat to humans.

0:23:49.010 --> 0:23:51.639
<v Speaker 2>Like you said, the big threat is to honeybees. And

0:23:51.720 --> 0:23:55.820
<v Speaker 2>specifically it's to European honeybees because they haven't evolved around

0:23:57.119 --> 0:24:01.919
<v Speaker 2>murder hornets or Asian giant hornets. Asian honeybees have, and

0:24:01.960 --> 0:24:05.570
<v Speaker 2>they actually have a defense to where when the giant

0:24:05.609 --> 0:24:08.690
<v Speaker 2>hornets show up, like you were saying, they just, like

0:24:08.810 --> 0:24:11.510
<v Speaker 2>murder hornet is a good term if you're a honeybee.

0:24:11.530 --> 0:24:11.790
<v Speaker 1>Mm-hmm.

0:24:12.450 --> 0:24:14.810
<v Speaker 2>Because just a few of them showing up at a

0:24:14.869 --> 0:24:18.350
<v Speaker 2>hive can just destroy a colony in a few hours.

0:24:18.690 --> 0:24:21.990
<v Speaker 2>And they do it in a really brutal way. They

0:24:22.030 --> 0:24:26.609
<v Speaker 2>decapitate the bees and just kill an entire colony in

0:24:26.630 --> 0:24:28.669
<v Speaker 2>a few hours. And they do it because they're one

0:24:28.690 --> 0:24:33.340
<v Speaker 2>of the few species that they're omnivorous, but most of

0:24:33.400 --> 0:24:37.220
<v Speaker 2>their food comes from meat. They're mostly carnivores. So they're

0:24:37.320 --> 0:24:41.580
<v Speaker 2>eating all these bees, basically. Human babies. Yeah, they just

0:24:41.619 --> 0:24:45.480
<v Speaker 2>carry your baby right off out of its crib. But

0:24:45.540 --> 0:24:47.879
<v Speaker 2>they can wipe out a whole colony like this. If

0:24:47.900 --> 0:24:52.550
<v Speaker 2>they run into an Asian honeybee colony, those bees have

0:24:52.590 --> 0:24:55.750
<v Speaker 2>developed a response where they'll swarm around one of the

0:24:55.830 --> 0:24:58.750
<v Speaker 2>Asian giant hornets and they'll flap their wings a bunch

0:24:59.090 --> 0:25:03.110
<v Speaker 2>and generate heat and they'll cook the hornet alive inside

0:25:03.170 --> 0:25:07.119
<v Speaker 2>the swarm. That's their defense. European honeybees, which make up

0:25:07.160 --> 0:25:08.899
<v Speaker 2>a lot of the honeybees, most of the honeybees in

0:25:08.940 --> 0:25:11.379
<v Speaker 2>the United States, They don't have that defense. So it's

0:25:11.420 --> 0:25:14.600
<v Speaker 2>a big problem if the Asian giant hornet gets a

0:25:14.660 --> 0:25:15.360
<v Speaker 2>foothold here.

0:25:16.050 --> 0:25:17.409
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and it will pack a lot more of a

0:25:17.460 --> 0:25:22.830
<v Speaker 1>punch too. They have about seven times potency as a

0:25:22.990 --> 0:25:26.610
<v Speaker 1>honeybee's venom. And as far as the pain scale, they

0:25:26.650 --> 0:25:31.550
<v Speaker 1>likened it, getting stung by a murder hornet is, they

0:25:31.570 --> 0:25:34.450
<v Speaker 1>likened it to like between three and ten, like if

0:25:34.470 --> 0:25:36.850
<v Speaker 1>you were to be stung by three to ten yellow

0:25:36.890 --> 0:25:37.850
<v Speaker 1>jackets all at once.

0:25:39.130 --> 0:25:41.659
<v Speaker 2>It's so awful. Yeah. Because the yellow jacket sting is

0:25:41.700 --> 0:25:43.580
<v Speaker 2>nothing to sneeze at either. I mean, that's a kind

0:25:43.640 --> 0:25:44.500
<v Speaker 2>of wasp, you know?

0:25:44.760 --> 0:25:46.520
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. I don't get, I haven't been stung in a long,

0:25:46.560 --> 0:25:47.500
<v Speaker 1>long time. Knock wood.

0:25:48.220 --> 0:25:51.040
<v Speaker 2>Knock on wood. I got stung a couple summers ago.

0:25:51.359 --> 0:25:53.660
<v Speaker 1>I'm not allergic or anything, but, you know, my story,

0:25:53.700 --> 0:25:55.760
<v Speaker 1>I told it back with the bee thing, was when

0:25:55.780 --> 0:25:57.940
<v Speaker 1>I was hiking that time and I got tagged 11

0:25:57.940 --> 0:26:00.070
<v Speaker 1>times in the face and neck.

0:26:00.970 --> 0:26:01.610
<v Speaker 2>Oh, man.

0:26:01.670 --> 0:26:04.630
<v Speaker 1>When I stumbled, it was one of those underground hives

0:26:05.670 --> 0:26:08.570
<v Speaker 1>that I just walked over and, you know, you see it.

0:26:08.869 --> 0:26:10.469
<v Speaker 1>two or three bees, you're like, oh, what's going on?

0:26:10.490 --> 0:26:12.670
<v Speaker 1>Then you see 10 and then all of a sudden

0:26:12.910 --> 0:26:16.080
<v Speaker 1>they're everywhere and you're just running like a moron through

0:26:16.100 --> 0:26:19.400
<v Speaker 1>the woods toward the river basically. But yeah, I got

0:26:19.420 --> 0:26:24.460
<v Speaker 1>hit 11 times and, uh, you know, that could have

0:26:24.480 --> 0:26:25.960
<v Speaker 1>killed me if I was allergic out in the middle

0:26:25.980 --> 0:26:27.520
<v Speaker 1>of nowhere like that. Sure.

0:26:27.740 --> 0:26:30.240
<v Speaker 2>I thought you were allergic. So we just lied on

0:26:30.280 --> 0:26:31.800
<v Speaker 2>the episode of the stuff you.

0:26:31.740 --> 0:26:35.219
<v Speaker 1>Should know TV show. Yeah. It was painful that there

0:26:35.240 --> 0:26:38.730
<v Speaker 1>was one I think that got the deepest on my

0:26:39.030 --> 0:26:42.990
<v Speaker 1>eyebrow bone, my orbital bone. And it went straight through

0:26:43.030 --> 0:26:45.350
<v Speaker 1>and I could almost feel it on my bone. And

0:26:45.390 --> 0:26:47.750
<v Speaker 1>that's the one, like I had a hard time getting

0:26:47.790 --> 0:26:50.750
<v Speaker 1>it out. It was so embedded. And it felt like somebody,

0:26:50.869 --> 0:26:55.090
<v Speaker 1>and I know I used the same analogy back then,

0:26:55.170 --> 0:26:58.010
<v Speaker 1>but it felt like somebody had a tiny little, you know,

0:26:58.030 --> 0:27:00.570
<v Speaker 1>the little nails you hang pictures with. It felt like

0:27:00.609 --> 0:27:02.909
<v Speaker 1>somebody had that poking that bone and they were just

0:27:02.950 --> 0:27:06.230
<v Speaker 1>tapping it with a hammer in this like regular beat.

0:27:07.090 --> 0:27:07.730
<v Speaker 2>That is awful.

0:27:07.750 --> 0:27:08.389
<v Speaker 1>It was terrible.

0:27:09.690 --> 0:27:12.840
<v Speaker 2>Man alive. Yeah, it sounds like you stepped on a

0:27:12.940 --> 0:27:16.080
<v Speaker 2>yellow jacket nest because they nest in the ground.

0:27:16.200 --> 0:27:19.220
<v Speaker 1>And they follow you, too. Like, they were going to

0:27:19.240 --> 0:27:20.580
<v Speaker 1>come after me until I got there.

0:27:20.600 --> 0:27:23.160
<v Speaker 2>Where are you going, huh?

0:27:23.369 --> 0:27:25.030
<v Speaker 1>I think we should take a break, maybe, and talk

0:27:25.050 --> 0:27:26.250
<v Speaker 1>about nesting right after this.

0:27:27.490 --> 0:27:51.629
<v Speaker 2>Yeah. Okay, Chuck, so we're moving on from venom. I

0:27:51.670 --> 0:27:55.170
<v Speaker 2>think we made our point. Venom from wasps is pretty serious.

0:27:57.060 --> 0:28:01.000
<v Speaker 2>And if you want to avoid getting injected with venom

0:28:01.060 --> 0:28:03.520
<v Speaker 2>from wasps, you want to learn to know what a

0:28:03.560 --> 0:28:06.000
<v Speaker 2>wasp nest looks like so you can avoid the wasp

0:28:06.040 --> 0:28:10.710
<v Speaker 2>nest altogether. Because some wasps are more aggressive than others.

0:28:11.369 --> 0:28:13.149
<v Speaker 2>And if you get anywhere near their nest, they're going

0:28:13.170 --> 0:28:14.930
<v Speaker 2>to be like, let me just give you a little

0:28:14.970 --> 0:28:18.620
<v Speaker 2>lesson about getting close to my nest. And they'll sting you, right?

0:28:18.880 --> 0:28:19.000
<v Speaker 1>Yes.

0:28:19.040 --> 0:28:23.580
<v Speaker 2>You want to get away. So the kinds of nests

0:28:23.780 --> 0:28:27.659
<v Speaker 2>that you see hanging from trees, that's a kind of

0:28:27.700 --> 0:28:32.390
<v Speaker 2>wasp nest. That's a paper wasp nest. There's mud dauber nests.

0:28:32.910 --> 0:28:35.970
<v Speaker 2>There's nests in the ground that are yellow jacket nests.

0:28:36.340 --> 0:28:38.760
<v Speaker 2>Wasps make a bunch of different kinds of nests. And

0:28:38.800 --> 0:28:40.790
<v Speaker 2>for you to survive in the world, you have to

0:28:40.850 --> 0:28:43.030
<v Speaker 2>know what each one looks like and be able to

0:28:43.230 --> 0:28:45.230
<v Speaker 2>sense them out with your nose.

0:28:46.070 --> 0:28:49.650
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, when I think of wasp nest, in Georgia at least,

0:28:50.270 --> 0:28:54.990
<v Speaker 1>I think of that honeycomb style where it's just a

0:28:55.050 --> 0:28:57.490
<v Speaker 1>bunch of little tiny holes and it looks like it's

0:28:57.580 --> 0:29:00.520
<v Speaker 1>made out of paper because it kind of is in

0:29:00.560 --> 0:29:00.820
<v Speaker 1>a way.

0:29:01.740 --> 0:29:07.040
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I think those are bald-faced hornets. Or wasps. I

0:29:07.060 --> 0:29:07.870
<v Speaker 2>can't remember which one.

0:29:07.880 --> 0:29:08.900
<v Speaker 1>I think those are the wasps.

0:29:09.630 --> 0:29:12.790
<v Speaker 2>And they actually chew up wood fragments that they'll get from, say,

0:29:12.810 --> 0:29:15.750
<v Speaker 2>like your deck or if your kid only has those

0:29:15.830 --> 0:29:18.230
<v Speaker 2>old-timey wood toys, they might chew those up if they're

0:29:18.250 --> 0:29:20.830
<v Speaker 2>in the yard. And then they take that and turn

0:29:20.850 --> 0:29:23.670
<v Speaker 2>it into actual pulp, like paper, and they spit it

0:29:23.790 --> 0:29:26.810
<v Speaker 2>out and make basically a papier-mâché nest.

0:29:26.850 --> 0:29:27.150
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:29:27.820 --> 0:29:30.440
<v Speaker 2>Which is pretty impressive. But that's why those things look

0:29:30.460 --> 0:29:32.360
<v Speaker 2>like they're papier-mâché because they basically are.

0:29:32.560 --> 0:29:34.000
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and they're light like papier-mâché.

0:29:34.120 --> 0:29:34.300
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:29:35.300 --> 0:29:37.280
<v Speaker 1>And they're fairly intricate if you look at them. They have,

0:29:37.850 --> 0:29:40.320
<v Speaker 1>some of them have what looks like little roof eaves

0:29:41.400 --> 0:29:44.060
<v Speaker 1>um they can be they're like i said super light

0:29:44.080 --> 0:29:47.740
<v Speaker 1>so they can be dangling from a really small sort

0:29:47.780 --> 0:29:50.770
<v Speaker 1>of thread like uh i don't even know what you

0:29:50.790 --> 0:29:54.850
<v Speaker 1>would call it just a Thread? Yeah, sort of like thread,

0:29:54.870 --> 0:29:55.170
<v Speaker 1>I guess.

0:29:55.830 --> 0:29:56.770
<v Speaker 2>Suspension cable?

0:29:56.990 --> 0:29:58.470
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, suspension cable, exactly.

0:29:58.510 --> 0:30:00.320
<v Speaker 2>We'll go with that because it sounds like it's a

0:30:00.340 --> 0:30:02.800
<v Speaker 2>little sturdier. Although, is that the kind that you found

0:30:02.860 --> 0:30:03.640
<v Speaker 2>in your yard today?

0:30:04.020 --> 0:30:07.920
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I found one of those laying on the ground.

0:30:08.420 --> 0:30:11.340
<v Speaker 1>When I was a kid, you know the big hornet's

0:30:11.400 --> 0:30:15.620
<v Speaker 1>nests that are the big sort of, also sort of

0:30:15.640 --> 0:30:18.160
<v Speaker 1>looks like papier-mâché, but it's more gray and it doesn't

0:30:18.200 --> 0:30:21.930
<v Speaker 1>have the little holes. It's just got one central entry point.

0:30:22.460 --> 0:30:25.390
<v Speaker 1>And it's about as big as a football. Yeah. Those

0:30:25.410 --> 0:30:28.630
<v Speaker 1>were sort of like country decor. Did you ever know

0:30:28.690 --> 0:30:30.970
<v Speaker 1>anyone who had one of those in their house? Yes.

0:30:31.210 --> 0:30:32.550
<v Speaker 2>Murderers, serial killers.

0:30:33.110 --> 0:30:35.820
<v Speaker 1>We had one. My dad climbed up a tree to

0:30:35.860 --> 0:30:39.140
<v Speaker 1>get one of these. It was emptied, thank goodness. And

0:30:39.160 --> 0:30:41.660
<v Speaker 1>we had that thing, you know, mounted on a log

0:30:41.720 --> 0:30:43.200
<v Speaker 1>above our fireplace for years.

0:30:44.040 --> 0:30:44.420
<v Speaker 2>Really?

0:30:44.480 --> 0:30:45.460
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. That was weird.

0:30:45.480 --> 0:30:49.260
<v Speaker 2>Wow, that's fascinating. Yeah. I don't remember which kind that is,

0:30:49.340 --> 0:30:52.340
<v Speaker 2>and I mean, I've looked at so much stuff about wasps.

0:30:52.360 --> 0:30:55.000
<v Speaker 1>I think it was the white-faced hornet, if I'm not mistaken.

0:30:55.280 --> 0:30:56.660
<v Speaker 2>Okay, is that who it is? All right, yeah.

0:30:56.680 --> 0:30:57.500
<v Speaker 1>They're very aggressive.

0:30:57.540 --> 0:31:02.200
<v Speaker 2>Those things can get pretty big, and they're big. Like

0:31:02.220 --> 0:31:04.090
<v Speaker 2>you said, the size of a football, their nests can

0:31:04.110 --> 0:31:08.810
<v Speaker 2>get pretty big. But yeah, that's a good one to avoid.

0:31:08.870 --> 0:31:10.430
<v Speaker 2>I didn't realize that they were aggressive, huh?

0:31:10.730 --> 0:31:12.850
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you don't want to mess around with one of

0:31:12.890 --> 0:31:14.890
<v Speaker 1>those nests. You don't want to go poking it.

0:31:15.710 --> 0:31:18.310
<v Speaker 2>From what I saw though, mud daubers, which actually make

0:31:18.390 --> 0:31:20.390
<v Speaker 2>theirs out of mud, they're the ones that, you know,

0:31:20.430 --> 0:31:22.890
<v Speaker 2>those tubes that usually come down from like the ceiling

0:31:22.910 --> 0:31:25.870
<v Speaker 2>down the wall. Those are actually mud tubes that the

0:31:25.930 --> 0:31:29.290
<v Speaker 2>mud dauber has made. And mud daubers, we should say,

0:31:29.310 --> 0:31:33.040
<v Speaker 2>they're basically two kinds of wasps in the world, wasps

0:31:33.080 --> 0:31:37.380
<v Speaker 2>and hornets. Social and solitary. And solitary is exactly what

0:31:37.400 --> 0:31:40.760
<v Speaker 2>it sounds like. It's just a single wasp, a female,

0:31:41.120 --> 0:31:44.220
<v Speaker 2>living on her own. She'll mate with some male wasp

0:31:44.260 --> 0:31:47.680
<v Speaker 2>and then go off. make her own nest, either burrowing

0:31:47.740 --> 0:31:49.740
<v Speaker 2>into the ground or if she's a mud dauber, she'll

0:31:49.780 --> 0:31:51.700
<v Speaker 2>make a mud nest. So when you see a mud

0:31:51.720 --> 0:31:55.200
<v Speaker 2>dauber's nest, like stop and be like, I respect that

0:31:55.340 --> 0:31:58.300
<v Speaker 2>because that was made by one single wasp on her

0:31:58.420 --> 0:32:03.220
<v Speaker 2>own with zero help whatsoever. She made that nest, which

0:32:03.240 --> 0:32:06.850
<v Speaker 2>I just find extremely impressive by chewing up mud and

0:32:06.870 --> 0:32:10.730
<v Speaker 2>just slowly but surely building it, spinning mud out onto

0:32:10.770 --> 0:32:11.130
<v Speaker 2>the wall.

0:32:11.690 --> 0:32:15.230
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. And if you're a social wasp, you are It's

0:32:15.250 --> 0:32:17.550
<v Speaker 1>sort of bee-like in that they're working for the queen,

0:32:18.650 --> 0:32:20.390
<v Speaker 1>maybe more than one queen even. But you have these

0:32:20.470 --> 0:32:24.320
<v Speaker 1>male drones that are there to mate. And you have

0:32:24.340 --> 0:32:27.040
<v Speaker 1>these female workers who build the nest and they hunt

0:32:27.080 --> 0:32:30.580
<v Speaker 1>for food and tend to these little larvae. But it's

0:32:30.620 --> 0:32:34.140
<v Speaker 1>basically all about getting the queen to live through the

0:32:34.200 --> 0:32:37.710
<v Speaker 1>winter to the next season. Like they will all leave

0:32:37.750 --> 0:32:40.090
<v Speaker 1>the nest. And I think the queen is the only

0:32:40.130 --> 0:32:41.690
<v Speaker 1>thing that overwinters. Isn't that right?

0:32:42.570 --> 0:32:42.810
<v Speaker 2>Yeah.

0:32:42.990 --> 0:32:43.190
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:32:43.250 --> 0:32:46.250
<v Speaker 2>The queen. Yeah. If they raise queen larvae, um, the

0:32:46.290 --> 0:32:49.670
<v Speaker 2>queen will, will live until the next winter and start

0:32:50.170 --> 0:32:54.930
<v Speaker 2>over again, basically creating eggs of, uh, sterile female workers

0:32:55.030 --> 0:32:57.710
<v Speaker 2>to help her to hatch and then help her build

0:32:57.750 --> 0:33:02.130
<v Speaker 2>up the hive, raise, um, male drones or no, is

0:33:02.170 --> 0:33:04.990
<v Speaker 2>the drone, the worker? No drones, a male that's just

0:33:05.070 --> 0:33:06.110
<v Speaker 2>used for reproduction. Right.

0:33:06.130 --> 0:33:06.310
<v Speaker 1>Yeah.

0:33:07.270 --> 0:33:11.170
<v Speaker 2>Um, and then eventually raise little queens. Um, So it's

0:33:11.190 --> 0:33:14.990
<v Speaker 2>pretty interesting, especially as far as social insects go. There

0:33:15.010 --> 0:33:19.640
<v Speaker 2>are very few species of social wasps and hornets, but

0:33:19.680 --> 0:33:25.520
<v Speaker 2>the ones that are, they're highly social, even among social insects.

0:33:26.000 --> 0:33:32.010
<v Speaker 2>They have pretty intricate, complex societies. Some of the social

0:33:32.050 --> 0:33:37.110
<v Speaker 2>wasp nests, I think including yellow jackets, will have multiple queens,

0:33:37.650 --> 0:33:40.320
<v Speaker 2>and there's one head queen that, who has basically beaten

0:33:40.400 --> 0:33:44.420
<v Speaker 2>up other queens to establish her dominance. And then she'll

0:33:44.440 --> 0:33:47.440
<v Speaker 2>have the most eggs. And then the next layer down

0:33:47.460 --> 0:33:50.020
<v Speaker 2>will have the second most eggs and so on and

0:33:50.060 --> 0:33:52.320
<v Speaker 2>so forth. And that takes like a certain amount of

0:33:52.380 --> 0:33:57.810
<v Speaker 2>cooperation to maintain and respect that type of hierarchy to

0:33:57.870 --> 0:34:01.210
<v Speaker 2>keep that society functioning the way it should, especially considering

0:34:01.490 --> 0:34:04.870
<v Speaker 2>you have to reinvent the wheel every year after winter

0:34:04.950 --> 0:34:06.030
<v Speaker 2>comes and goes. Yeah.

0:34:06.630 --> 0:34:09.259
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, absolutely. And they talk to each other, too, in

0:34:09.280 --> 0:34:13.700
<v Speaker 1>a way. They communicate, especially if there's a threat via pheromones.

0:34:14.100 --> 0:34:17.700
<v Speaker 1>So that's why you are more likely to get swarmed

0:34:18.280 --> 0:34:21.380
<v Speaker 1>rather than just like if you're an actual threat to

0:34:21.420 --> 0:34:24.740
<v Speaker 1>a nest. They can send a signal that says, hey, everybody,

0:34:24.800 --> 0:34:26.819
<v Speaker 1>this jerk over here has got a this kid has

0:34:26.840 --> 0:34:29.339
<v Speaker 1>got a stick and he's coming at us. Yeah. Let's

0:34:29.360 --> 0:34:29.620
<v Speaker 1>get them.

0:34:29.719 --> 0:34:33.370
<v Speaker 2>And if they die, actually, they release that. It's like

0:34:33.410 --> 0:34:36.489
<v Speaker 2>a byproduct of their death is releasing that same pheromone.

0:34:36.510 --> 0:34:37.350
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, man down.

0:34:37.410 --> 0:34:40.469
<v Speaker 2>Basically, they turn into like Harry Dean Stanton in Red

0:34:40.550 --> 0:34:46.799
<v Speaker 2>Dawn where they're like, avenge me. I have that one

0:34:46.820 --> 0:34:47.680
<v Speaker 2>written down.

0:34:48.880 --> 0:34:51.560
<v Speaker 1>I guess you didn't see the video then of the

0:34:52.160 --> 0:34:55.040
<v Speaker 1>tarantula hawk since you're not into those.

0:34:55.800 --> 0:34:58.100
<v Speaker 2>No, but I've seen one in person, actually.

0:34:58.219 --> 0:35:00.819
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, the pepsis wasp is known as the tarantula hawk

0:35:00.880 --> 0:35:05.560
<v Speaker 1>because they lay eggs inside of a paralyzed tarantula, and

0:35:05.580 --> 0:35:09.379
<v Speaker 1>the larvae eat the tarantula from the inside out. And

0:35:09.580 --> 0:35:11.660
<v Speaker 1>I was like, I've got to see this. And, of course,

0:35:11.719 --> 0:35:16.060
<v Speaker 1>on YouTube, there is a pepsis wasp battling it out

0:35:16.080 --> 0:35:20.180
<v Speaker 1>with a tarantula, and it's no match. And it paralyzes

0:35:20.239 --> 0:35:24.770
<v Speaker 1>this tarantula and drags him back, like, a great distance.

0:35:26.140 --> 0:35:29.240
<v Speaker 1>You see a wasp pulling this tarantula across the ground.

0:35:30.060 --> 0:35:33.730
<v Speaker 2>Which is much, much, much larger. But the tarantula, like

0:35:33.750 --> 0:35:36.610
<v Speaker 2>you said, is no match. And even among humans, I

0:35:36.650 --> 0:35:41.690
<v Speaker 2>think the tarantula hawk's sting is like a four out

0:35:41.730 --> 0:35:45.029
<v Speaker 2>of four on the Schmidt pain scale. Like it's as

0:35:45.070 --> 0:35:45.950
<v Speaker 2>bad as it gets.

0:35:46.230 --> 0:35:48.210
<v Speaker 1>Because you know why? They ask Mr. Schmidt, how bad

0:35:48.230 --> 0:35:50.910
<v Speaker 1>does it hurt? And he's like, oh, my gosh, it's terrible.

0:35:50.950 --> 0:35:56.820
<v Speaker 2>He said, yeah, ow. But yes, and they're very bright

0:35:56.900 --> 0:36:01.280
<v Speaker 2>blue and orange too, which is another indicator like stay away.

0:36:01.300 --> 0:36:04.290
<v Speaker 2>If you see anything that's really colorful, just assume it

0:36:04.310 --> 0:36:05.549
<v Speaker 2>can mess you up pretty good.

0:36:05.630 --> 0:36:06.230
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, don't lick that.

0:36:06.250 --> 0:36:07.509
<v Speaker 2>With the tarantula hawk, that's the case.

0:36:07.550 --> 0:36:08.830
<v Speaker 1>Don't lick that colorful frog.

0:36:09.750 --> 0:36:13.569
<v Speaker 2>So, but even if it's not a wasp taking down

0:36:13.590 --> 0:36:16.660
<v Speaker 2>a tarantula and laying eggs inside it that eat the

0:36:16.780 --> 0:36:20.719
<v Speaker 2>tarantula from the inside out, almost all wasp species, if

0:36:20.800 --> 0:36:24.040
<v Speaker 2>not 100% of wasp species, Like we said, they raise

0:36:24.080 --> 0:36:29.839
<v Speaker 2>their young by paralyzing other insects, dragging them to their

0:36:29.880 --> 0:36:33.090
<v Speaker 2>nest and laying the eggs nearby, leaving the bug to

0:36:33.120 --> 0:36:35.989
<v Speaker 2>be paralyzed and still alive when the egg hatches and

0:36:36.050 --> 0:36:40.230
<v Speaker 2>larva crawls over and starts eating that bug alive. And

0:36:40.250 --> 0:36:42.350
<v Speaker 2>this is one reason why wasps have such a bad

0:36:42.410 --> 0:36:45.930
<v Speaker 2>rap because it's just such a brutal circle of life.

0:36:45.989 --> 0:36:49.510
<v Speaker 2>It really is. Yeah, especially from the perspective of the insect.

0:36:49.870 --> 0:36:53.910
<v Speaker 2>And apparently Charles Darwin said, when he witnessed this happening

0:36:53.930 --> 0:36:56.930
<v Speaker 2>to a cute little caterpillar, that it made it difficult

0:36:56.969 --> 0:37:00.370
<v Speaker 2>for him to believe in an omnipresent and beneficent God.

0:37:01.130 --> 0:37:04.819
<v Speaker 2>Because what kind of God would allow a cute little

0:37:05.180 --> 0:37:08.540
<v Speaker 2>caterpillar to do that? The thing is, Charles Darwin, I mean,

0:37:08.580 --> 0:37:10.940
<v Speaker 2>he liked to putz around in the garden, but he

0:37:10.980 --> 0:37:14.060
<v Speaker 2>was not a farmer. If you're a farmer, you're probably

0:37:14.120 --> 0:37:16.410
<v Speaker 2>kind of happy to see a wasp larva eating a

0:37:16.450 --> 0:37:20.770
<v Speaker 2>caterpillar because caterpillars eat your crops. And if you ask me...

0:37:21.950 --> 0:37:24.250
<v Speaker 2>this is where we get to the part about the

0:37:24.510 --> 0:37:26.810
<v Speaker 2>roles that wasps play in the ecosystem and why you

0:37:26.830 --> 0:37:28.489
<v Speaker 2>shouldn't just go willy-nilly killing them.

0:37:28.830 --> 0:37:31.910
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I mean, they'll bring in wasps. Farmers will sometimes

0:37:32.510 --> 0:37:36.299
<v Speaker 1>if they have, like, an insect issue because the wasp

0:37:36.360 --> 0:37:38.640
<v Speaker 1>is going to take care of that naturally and you

0:37:38.660 --> 0:37:41.279
<v Speaker 1>won't have to use, you know, insecticide and stuff like that.

0:37:42.140 --> 0:37:45.320
<v Speaker 2>No, so plus also bees are usually kind of finicky,

0:37:45.400 --> 0:37:47.799
<v Speaker 2>I saw, as far as what they'll pollinate and what

0:37:47.840 --> 0:37:51.520
<v Speaker 2>they won't. Wasps are not at all finicky. They'll pollinate whatever.

0:37:51.940 --> 0:37:55.100
<v Speaker 2>So they're non-selected pollinators, which makes them, like you can

0:37:55.180 --> 0:37:57.160
<v Speaker 2>use them to pollinate any kind of crop, which makes

0:37:57.200 --> 0:38:02.850
<v Speaker 2>them pretty helpful. And so they control other crop-destroying insects,

0:38:03.489 --> 0:38:07.130
<v Speaker 2>and they also pollinate crops too. So they are pretty useful.

0:38:07.590 --> 0:38:10.069
<v Speaker 2>So that means that you shouldn't just go around killing them.

0:38:10.110 --> 0:38:11.310
<v Speaker 2>I think we should say it again.

0:38:11.590 --> 0:38:15.390
<v Speaker 1>No, you shouldn't kill anything except mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks.

0:38:16.340 --> 0:38:18.680
<v Speaker 2>And you also can't say, well, they're a threat to

0:38:18.719 --> 0:38:22.200
<v Speaker 2>humans because I looked up some stats, Chuck. You ready

0:38:22.219 --> 0:38:22.560
<v Speaker 2>for this?

0:38:22.780 --> 0:38:24.500
<v Speaker 1>Yeah. You're not going to get killed from a wasp,

0:38:24.580 --> 0:38:24.839
<v Speaker 1>are you?

0:38:25.560 --> 0:38:31.820
<v Speaker 2>No. I mean, yeah, but no, you're not. So combined, bees, wasps,

0:38:31.910 --> 0:38:34.350
<v Speaker 2>and hornets, and hornets are just another type of wasp.

0:38:34.810 --> 0:38:36.210
<v Speaker 1>Is that so? Yeah.

0:38:37.110 --> 0:38:41.830
<v Speaker 2>I hadn't heard. They kill about 62 Americans every year

0:38:42.310 --> 0:38:43.989
<v Speaker 2>from anaphylactic shock, right?

0:38:44.390 --> 0:38:44.750
<v Speaker 1>Oh, wow.

0:38:44.790 --> 0:38:49.010
<v Speaker 2>By contrast— 300 Americans die from falling off of ladders

0:38:49.090 --> 0:38:55.210
<v Speaker 2>every year. In the UK, get this, between 2006 and 2007,

0:38:55.210 --> 0:38:59.700
<v Speaker 2>eight people died from bees, wasps, or hornet stings. I'm

0:38:59.739 --> 0:39:02.840
<v Speaker 2>including bees here, by the way. And then in Australia,

0:39:03.020 --> 0:39:05.239
<v Speaker 2>where you would guess that half the human population is

0:39:05.280 --> 0:39:07.640
<v Speaker 2>killed off every year by bees and wasps and has

0:39:07.660 --> 0:39:11.420
<v Speaker 2>to regenerate every spring. Now, between 2000 and 2013, there

0:39:11.440 --> 0:39:18.840
<v Speaker 2>were only 27 deaths total For that 13 years from bees, wasps,

0:39:18.900 --> 0:39:21.850
<v Speaker 2>and hornet stings, which is pretty astounding. But it all

0:39:21.890 --> 0:39:24.770
<v Speaker 2>goes to say, like, don't listen to the murder hornet rap.

0:39:25.170 --> 0:39:27.170
<v Speaker 2>The hornets and the wasps aren't out to kill you.

0:39:27.510 --> 0:39:29.370
<v Speaker 2>They don't want you anywhere near their nests.

0:39:29.730 --> 0:39:29.850
<v Speaker 1>But.

0:39:29.969 --> 0:39:33.129
<v Speaker 2>They're not, like, trying to wipe out your family. They

0:39:33.150 --> 0:39:35.030
<v Speaker 2>just want to be left alone, basically.

0:39:35.410 --> 0:39:38.350
<v Speaker 1>The murder hornet rap? Yeah. Now, here is a hornet,

0:39:38.410 --> 0:39:41.190
<v Speaker 1>and it's here to say, I come to kill peace.

0:39:41.210 --> 0:39:42.710
<v Speaker 2>I love fruity pebbles in a major way.

0:39:44.750 --> 0:39:46.969
<v Speaker 1>I think, I can't wait to re-listen to this one,

0:39:46.989 --> 0:39:49.979
<v Speaker 1>because I'm pretty sure you said, that they kill 62

0:39:49.980 --> 0:39:53.800
<v Speaker 1>million Americans every year. No. I think you did. I

0:39:54.280 --> 0:39:55.759
<v Speaker 1>might have been hearing things. It might have been a

0:39:55.800 --> 0:39:56.440
<v Speaker 1>computer glitch.

0:39:57.219 --> 0:39:59.779
<v Speaker 2>Just 62. Okay. Six to the two.

0:40:01.180 --> 0:40:04.020
<v Speaker 1>I really am curious if you said million.

0:40:04.840 --> 0:40:05.299
<v Speaker 2>We'll find out.

0:40:05.320 --> 0:40:09.290
<v Speaker 1>That'll be an Easter egg for us only. So, yeah,

0:40:09.350 --> 0:40:11.910
<v Speaker 1>don't kill the wasps. If you have what you think

0:40:11.969 --> 0:40:17.050
<v Speaker 1>is a wasp problem at your house, You really don't

0:40:17.300 --> 0:40:19.259
<v Speaker 1>unless it's, you know, I mean, if you have a

0:40:19.320 --> 0:40:22.680
<v Speaker 1>really big wasp nest like right above your front door

0:40:22.700 --> 0:40:25.819
<v Speaker 1>or something, I could see maybe a case being made

0:40:25.880 --> 0:40:28.360
<v Speaker 1>for removing it, having it professionally removed.

0:40:29.060 --> 0:40:31.020
<v Speaker 2>Or if your kids are playing out back and there's

0:40:31.060 --> 0:40:34.440
<v Speaker 2>a sinkhole from a Yellow Jackets underground nest where there's

0:40:34.660 --> 0:40:35.660
<v Speaker 2>hundreds of Yellow Jackets.

0:40:35.680 --> 0:40:36.239
<v Speaker 1>And if you're allergic.

0:40:36.260 --> 0:40:37.580
<v Speaker 2>I could see getting that removed too.

0:40:37.980 --> 0:40:40.339
<v Speaker 1>But in general, like wasps aren't after you. They don't

0:40:40.360 --> 0:40:43.279
<v Speaker 1>want anything to do with you. They're not aggressive toward

0:40:43.300 --> 0:40:45.820
<v Speaker 1>humans unless you come poking their thing with a stick.

0:40:47.120 --> 0:40:50.069
<v Speaker 1>I love this. Robert says, and this takes like nerves

0:40:50.110 --> 0:40:51.950
<v Speaker 1>of steel, and he's like, if one lands on you,

0:40:53.630 --> 0:40:57.310
<v Speaker 1>don't panic. Avoid swatting it or making swift movements. Just

0:40:57.350 --> 0:41:00.549
<v Speaker 1>kind of sit there and it'll quickly fly off. Like,

0:41:00.670 --> 0:41:02.050
<v Speaker 1>I don't want to kill a wasp, but if a

0:41:02.070 --> 0:41:03.920
<v Speaker 1>wasp lands on my arm, I'm not going to be like,

0:41:04.719 --> 0:41:08.560
<v Speaker 1>all right, little fella, you're just going to give you

0:41:08.580 --> 0:41:09.260
<v Speaker 1>some time.

0:41:09.280 --> 0:41:10.800
<v Speaker 2>Go mosey along.

0:41:10.820 --> 0:41:14.240
<v Speaker 1>No, I would freak out and flail. I wouldn't swat

0:41:14.300 --> 0:41:16.240
<v Speaker 1>at it because... I feel like I would get stung

0:41:16.260 --> 0:41:21.379
<v Speaker 1>for sure, but I would definitely do a, you know, ah! Right.

0:41:21.920 --> 0:41:23.640
<v Speaker 2>You got to try not to do that. You have

0:41:23.660 --> 0:41:25.610
<v Speaker 2>to listen to Robert and don't panic.

0:41:25.640 --> 0:41:26.280
<v Speaker 1>Good luck.

0:41:27.050 --> 0:41:29.290
<v Speaker 2>Every time I see don't panic in the wild, I

0:41:29.350 --> 0:41:31.830
<v Speaker 2>just assume that it's a reference to the Hitchhiker's Guide

0:41:31.850 --> 0:41:33.009
<v Speaker 2>to the Galaxy. Don't you?

0:41:33.190 --> 0:41:35.390
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, I think so.

0:41:35.810 --> 0:41:38.750
<v Speaker 2>So there's standing still. That's one thing when one lands

0:41:38.870 --> 0:41:43.620
<v Speaker 2>on you. Okay. Okay. That's great. Things you can do

0:41:43.660 --> 0:41:45.759
<v Speaker 2>to keep them from landing on you, though, are to

0:41:45.900 --> 0:41:49.280
<v Speaker 2>not wear white and yellow outdoors. Yeah. Okay?

0:41:49.520 --> 0:41:52.520
<v Speaker 1>I like white and yellow.

0:41:52.800 --> 0:41:56.250
<v Speaker 2>Yellow doesn't look good on me anyway. But those colors

0:41:56.270 --> 0:41:59.850
<v Speaker 2>attract insects. You don't want to wear perfume because you

0:41:59.890 --> 0:42:01.770
<v Speaker 2>may confuse them into thinking you're a flower.

0:42:02.230 --> 0:42:02.510
<v Speaker 1>Sure.

0:42:03.570 --> 0:42:07.009
<v Speaker 2>If you have your garbage can uncovered, don't stand next

0:42:07.070 --> 0:42:09.129
<v Speaker 2>to it. You want to cover your garbage can.

0:42:10.460 --> 0:42:14.160
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, especially if you're us. I always call it the

0:42:14.360 --> 0:42:18.140
<v Speaker 1>stinkiest garbage can in Atlanta. I think it's so nasty.

0:42:18.219 --> 0:42:19.410
<v Speaker 2>Ours is pretty bad too.

0:42:20.010 --> 0:42:21.270
<v Speaker 1>It's a lot of years of cat litter.

0:42:22.550 --> 0:42:23.650
<v Speaker 2>Oh, yeah, that's a stink.

0:42:23.690 --> 0:42:24.410
<v Speaker 1>Dog poop.

0:42:25.350 --> 0:42:30.650
<v Speaker 2>And then you can take down nests yourself if it's

0:42:31.010 --> 0:42:35.680
<v Speaker 2>below 60 degrees Fahrenheit or 15.5 degrees Celsius because they're

0:42:35.719 --> 0:42:38.620
<v Speaker 2>probably dead in there anyway. So it's a good time

0:42:38.660 --> 0:42:40.890
<v Speaker 2>to take it down. But for the most part, we're

0:42:40.910 --> 0:42:44.110
<v Speaker 2>just going to go ahead and say don't take down

0:42:44.130 --> 0:42:46.730
<v Speaker 2>a wasp nest that you want out of your yard

0:42:46.790 --> 0:42:49.950
<v Speaker 2>by yourself. Just don't do it. Hire a professional. There

0:42:49.969 --> 0:42:52.910
<v Speaker 2>are people who will take money in exchange for coming

0:42:52.950 --> 0:42:55.890
<v Speaker 2>to get a nest out of your yard. You can

0:42:55.969 --> 0:42:58.900
<v Speaker 2>give them money for that, and they know what they're doing.

0:42:59.020 --> 0:43:02.799
<v Speaker 2>So you can feel good about that, about hiring them.

0:43:03.180 --> 0:43:04.920
<v Speaker 2>And it also supports local business too.

0:43:05.380 --> 0:43:10.420
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, and don't get that– wasp spray that sprays from, like,

0:43:10.420 --> 0:43:13.299
<v Speaker 1>20 feet away and just go home and, like, attack

0:43:13.340 --> 0:43:16.640
<v Speaker 1>these nests with poison. Just don't do it.

0:43:18.070 --> 0:43:18.250
<v Speaker 2>No.

0:43:18.330 --> 0:43:19.110
<v Speaker 1>Stop killing things.

0:43:21.110 --> 0:43:22.750
<v Speaker 2>What else you got? I got one more thing. You

0:43:22.790 --> 0:43:23.390
<v Speaker 2>have anything else?

0:43:23.430 --> 0:43:23.629
<v Speaker 1>Nope.

0:43:24.550 --> 0:43:28.770
<v Speaker 2>Okay, so in Japan, it always circles back to Japan,

0:43:28.810 --> 0:43:29.470
<v Speaker 2>doesn't it, Chuck?

0:43:29.810 --> 0:43:31.910
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, if it's quality and good.

0:43:32.930 --> 0:43:39.890
<v Speaker 2>Including the Asian giant wasp as well as yellow jackets

0:43:39.950 --> 0:43:43.730
<v Speaker 2>and some other types of wasps. Japanese culture or culinary

0:43:43.790 --> 0:43:48.440
<v Speaker 2>culture loves wasp larva. But to get wasp larva, you

0:43:48.460 --> 0:43:50.820
<v Speaker 2>have to go out in the wild, find a wasp's

0:43:50.900 --> 0:43:53.380
<v Speaker 2>nest in the summer, and then take it back home

0:43:53.640 --> 0:43:58.180
<v Speaker 2>without getting stung and raise the larva yourself. And then

0:43:58.239 --> 0:44:00.529
<v Speaker 2>when they're ready to go, you harvest them and eat

0:44:00.570 --> 0:44:02.969
<v Speaker 2>them in the fall, which is pretty interesting in and

0:44:03.010 --> 0:44:06.569
<v Speaker 2>of itself, right? Yes. It gets even more interesting than that.

0:44:07.000 --> 0:44:10.620
<v Speaker 2>Because to find a wasp nest in the woods, what

0:44:10.640 --> 0:44:13.700
<v Speaker 2>they do is they take raw fish. Japanese love raw fish,

0:44:13.780 --> 0:44:17.100
<v Speaker 2>but they share some of theirs with wasps. And they

0:44:17.140 --> 0:44:18.990
<v Speaker 2>leave it out as bait. And then when a wasp

0:44:19.050 --> 0:44:21.730
<v Speaker 2>shows up, they'll take chopsticks and a little hunk of

0:44:22.130 --> 0:44:25.350
<v Speaker 2>this fish meat that they have a string tied to.

0:44:25.530 --> 0:44:27.490
<v Speaker 2>And they'll hand it to the wasp. And the wasp

0:44:27.530 --> 0:44:29.649
<v Speaker 2>will fly off with the hunk of fish to take

0:44:29.690 --> 0:44:33.280
<v Speaker 2>back to its larva, its eggs, with the string dangling,

0:44:33.410 --> 0:44:35.940
<v Speaker 2>which makes it easier to follow back to the nest.

0:44:36.780 --> 0:44:39.739
<v Speaker 2>And after doing this a few times, they're probably successful

0:44:39.780 --> 0:44:41.520
<v Speaker 2>enough that they track the wasp all the way back.

0:44:41.540 --> 0:44:43.580
<v Speaker 2>They don't lose it. And they find the nest, and

0:44:43.600 --> 0:44:45.239
<v Speaker 2>then that's when they take it home and tend to

0:44:45.260 --> 0:44:47.319
<v Speaker 2>the larva. And then they eat it in the fall.

0:44:47.920 --> 0:44:49.920
<v Speaker 1>That sounds familiar for some reason. I might have heard

0:44:49.940 --> 0:44:50.340
<v Speaker 1>that before.

0:44:50.360 --> 0:44:51.620
<v Speaker 2>Isn't that cool?

0:44:51.640 --> 0:44:52.120
<v Speaker 1>It's amazing.

0:44:53.680 --> 0:44:56.280
<v Speaker 2>Amazing. Well, that's all I've got for wasp, Chuck.

0:44:57.320 --> 0:44:58.120
<v Speaker 1>Wasp out.

0:44:59.820 --> 0:45:02.980
<v Speaker 2>So since Chuck said wasp out, that means it's time

0:45:03.020 --> 0:45:03.899
<v Speaker 2>for listener mail.

0:45:06.080 --> 0:45:10.280
<v Speaker 1>I'm going to call this, Adam, I think you were wrong,

0:45:10.340 --> 0:45:13.210
<v Speaker 1>and Josh was referencing They Might Be Giants. It's a

0:45:13.250 --> 0:45:13.970
<v Speaker 1>long-winded title.

0:45:14.650 --> 0:45:14.910
<v Speaker 2>Okay.

0:45:14.950 --> 0:45:16.610
<v Speaker 1>Hey, guys, in your episode, How We Almost Got Rid

0:45:16.630 --> 0:45:19.589
<v Speaker 1>of Polio, you read a listener mail that referred to

0:45:19.670 --> 0:45:24.680
<v Speaker 1>How Flamethrowers Work episode. However, I'm somewhat sad that the

0:45:24.719 --> 0:45:28.500
<v Speaker 1>reference wasn't made for the They Might Be Giants song. Istanbul,

0:45:28.520 --> 0:45:32.480
<v Speaker 1>not Constantinople. Josh made the statement, and it was a

0:45:32.500 --> 0:45:36.609
<v Speaker 1>wonderful wasted opportunity. Well, that's exactly what you're talking about, right?

0:45:38.030 --> 0:45:40.020
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, I said not Constantinople.

0:45:40.600 --> 0:45:43.259
<v Speaker 1>Yeah, you were talking about the They Might Be Giants song, right?

0:45:43.940 --> 0:45:45.810
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, of course. This guy doesn't get me.

0:45:45.840 --> 0:45:47.700
<v Speaker 1>He just didn't say, hey, by the way, that's the

0:45:47.780 --> 0:45:48.779
<v Speaker 1>They Might Be Giants song.

0:45:49.080 --> 0:45:53.130
<v Speaker 2>Hey, everybody, open up for the spoon feeding.

0:45:54.010 --> 0:45:55.430
<v Speaker 1>Just thought I'd drop you both a line. I love

0:45:55.450 --> 0:45:57.170
<v Speaker 1>the show and enjoy listening to it daily to and

0:45:57.190 --> 0:46:00.529
<v Speaker 1>from work, especially the wit and dry humor. Even though

0:46:00.550 --> 0:46:01.870
<v Speaker 1>it goes over your head sometimes.

0:46:02.380 --> 0:46:02.879
<v Speaker 2>Yeah, right.

0:46:02.930 --> 0:46:04.839
<v Speaker 1>He said, it's very much my style, so much so

0:46:05.300 --> 0:46:07.859
<v Speaker 1>that you aren't sure if there was a joke even told. Wow,

0:46:07.900 --> 0:46:10.840
<v Speaker 1>this is getting very meta. You both make my commute

0:46:10.880 --> 0:46:14.520
<v Speaker 1>tolerable and enjoyable. Thanks, guys. That is from Adam P.

0:46:14.620 --> 0:46:16.529
<v Speaker 1>in Gulfport, Mississippi.

0:46:17.350 --> 0:46:20.710
<v Speaker 2>Nice. Adam, for you, from now on, whenever I make

0:46:20.750 --> 0:46:25.050
<v Speaker 2>a joke, I'm going to add waka waka at the end.

0:46:25.410 --> 0:46:25.870
<v Speaker 1>That'll do it.

0:46:25.890 --> 0:46:28.860
<v Speaker 2>That'll be just for Adam. Thanks a lot, Adam. We

0:46:28.880 --> 0:46:31.239
<v Speaker 2>appreciate that. Thank you for listening to us and for

0:46:31.300 --> 0:46:34.040
<v Speaker 2>letting us rag on you. We do it lovingly and jokingly.

0:46:34.219 --> 0:46:34.879
<v Speaker 2>We hope you know.

0:46:34.960 --> 0:46:35.279
<v Speaker 1>Of course.

0:46:35.560 --> 0:46:37.580
<v Speaker 2>If you want us to rag on you, well, you

0:46:37.620 --> 0:46:40.060
<v Speaker 2>send us an email and see what you get. Look

0:46:40.120 --> 0:46:43.100
<v Speaker 2>up and see what you get. You can send it

0:46:43.140 --> 0:46:46.549
<v Speaker 2>to stuffpodcasts at iheartradio.com.

0:46:49.850 --> 0:46:52.690
<v Speaker 1>Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For

0:46:52.710 --> 0:46:55.569
<v Speaker 1>more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app.

0:46:56.000 --> 0:46:57.029
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0:46:57.050 --> 0:46:58.750
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