Remember that bee you swatted at and tried to kill, but it ended up getting away? Watch your back, because it knows what you look like. New research reveals that certain paper wasps and honeybees can remember distinct characteristics of individual faces. This came as a surprise to researchers who did not expect to see such advanced social abilities in creatures with such tiny brains.

Humans are excellent at identifying people based on looks. Other animals, like crows, have been documented as being able to identify individuals too, though their brains are much bigger and they are generally regarded as much more intelligent than these paper wasps. Honeybees were also shown to be able to recognize different faces, including those belonging to humans.

When these insects view an individual (be it another insect or the person who just pissed them off by swinging a newspaper at them), their field of vision is broken up into hexagons from the thousands of ommatidia that make up the compound eye. Essentially, they process information based on these chunks from the structures in the eye that act as individual units and put the entire picture together. It might not be very clear compared to what we are used to since they don't have a pupil to regulate the amount of light coming in onto the retina, but it is good enough to allow wasps and bees to discern prominent facial features that can be used for identification.

Understanding how these insects are able to achieve this high level of individual detection with such a relatively simple brain might be able to inspire new facial recognition programs. This research was announced by Elizabeth Tibbetts from the University of Michigan published a paper on these results in the journal Ethology. Her colleague Adrian Dyer from RMIT University has published five papers this year regarding Hymenoptera vision.


- See more at: www.iflscience.com/plants-and-animals/wa...sthash.DZwXIaGN.dpuf

I looked at the link to see how they know whether or not a wasp is recognising a face, but there was too much reading.

Funnily enough, I liberated the biggest wasp I've ever seen from my living room this morning, and looked up whether it was usual to see them in December.

Apparently there are some big fat queens around now, looking for likely nesting spots.

I hope it recognises me, and instructs its future minions to keep their stings away from me for setting it free.

I always revive bees with honey...yet I never remember the faces of the wasps that have stung me, I just dish out collective wasp punishment. I'm so into the mindset I even expanded to include W.A.S.P., and I don't just mean the shite band.

My dogs were trying to defy gravity by climbing up the window to eat the wasp btw, which was something I was keen to avoid.

I believe this to be true. During the summer months I have daily been urinating next to quite a large nest...mainly because that's just how I roll. There are toilet facilities where I work.

Anyway, to begin with, these bastards were wary of me, but as the weeks sped by I feel we actually got to know eachother quite well. Ultimately, I never bothered with them and they didn't sting my penis. So, maybe they recognise penises too?