Social wasps lose their ability to recognize other individuals in isolation

Paper wasps (Polistes fuscatus) recognize each other by their brightly colored faces. It turned out that they were losing this

ability for isolated cultivation. The ability of wasps to remember faces is similar to that of primates and humans, but not other social insects.

The study found that when adult waspskept in solitude, the visual areas of their brains—especially those associated with identifying nuances in color patterns and shapes—are smaller and less developed than those of their peers who lived in a community.  

Larvae of P.fuscatus, similar to caterpillars, live in separate cells within the nest. And while they can detect chemicals and light, their visual areas are undeveloped. When the nascent wasps emerged from their cocoons, the researchers separated them from the colony. Some of them were isolated in containers, while others were placed in identical containers with other wasps.

The ability of these insects to use visionto identify "their" scientists have found back in 2002. The "faces" of the wasps were painted, dividing them into two groups. In one group, this "make-up" changed the position of the colored elements inherent in them in a natural form, while in the second it repeated the usual coloring. It turned out that the attitude towards wasps from the first group in the hive, where they were returned, was aggressive - but only for the first time. Having figured out and recognized them as "theirs", the other wasps of the swarm after a short period of time remembered them and began to communicate as before.

Among insects, this is a rare ability, thereforeScientists analyzed the genome of Polistes fuscatus, comparing it with the genome of related species Polistes metricus and Polistes dorsalis, in which such super skills were not found.

Now research has shown that this ability to recognize faces is reduced when wasps live in isolation. 

Recall that at an early stage, the symptoms of COVID-19 are verysimilar to SARS: fever, sore throat, cough, headache, weakness. Therefore, it is important to stay at home and, if possible, eliminate or minimize contact with family members before receiving coronavirus test results. Infected patients (including children) are required to adhere to a 14-day self-isolation regimen, even if they do not have manifestations of the disease.

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