How Wasps Recognize Their Eggs

Abstract

Wasps are insects that many people tend to dislike. But have you heard that wasps perform really important services in nature, such as pest control and pollination, and that they can also serve as living indicators of environmental health? We can learn a lot from wasps. Most people do not know that wasps have a sophisticated communication system—they use their eyes to see, their antennas to smell, and their legs to feel vibrations. The bodies of adult and young wasps are covered by a mix of odors, which carry information about which family they belong to. We decided to do experiments to see if wasps can recognize their eggs because, to us, all wasp eggs look very similar. In this article, we will show you that wasp eggs carry odors that wasps can recognize, and this helps the entire colony to function properly.