Bees “scream” when attacked by wasps – What a new study showed | Skai.gr

A study has revealed a new defense mechanism used by bees when attacked by giant Asian wasps: the howl.

When left unchecked, giant Asian wasps can destroy a beehive in hours, feeding on larvae and decapitating bees in what scientists call a “slaughter phase.” Wasps then feed on severed body parts in their young.

The study, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science this week, found that bees emit a “collective call for collective defense” against wasps.

The previously undiscovered signal, now known as the “hunter-gatherer communication channel, consists of alarm cries, screams of fear and panic cries from primates, birds and murmurs,” according to the study.

Bees make sound by vibrating their wings or chest, lifting their bellies and exposing a gland to release a pheromone.

“It’s disturbing to hear that,” Heather Mattila, co-author of the study, told Gizmodo. “It is characterized by rapid explosions of loud sounds that change unpredictably in frequency – they are quite loud and noisy.”

According to the study, signal rates increase seven to eight times during an Asian wasp attack. In addition to this method of defense, bees resort to “fecal spots” – a defense mechanism in which they collect animal feces and apply them to the entrance of their hives to prevent wasps.

GUARDIAN