Did you know that a hornet could drink pretty much all vertebrates under the table? As it turns out, their alcohol tolerance is completely off the charts.
Oriental hornets, which reside in Asia, can handle consuming up to 80% ethanol concentrations without any lasting effects. By comparison, most spirits have a concentration around 40%—and most vertebrates start to feel the effects after consuming concentrations of 4%. So, yeah, these hornets can hold their own.
If you’re wondering how or why this was ever discovered, it’s because most insects and animals eat fermented fruit, which can produce alcohol due to yeasts converting the sugars. Drunk animals are a thing! Or in the wasp’s case, shockingly not-drunk.
A study was recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, where researchers had these bugs imbibe 20% alcohol content. They noticed effects; I imagine the wasps couldn’t fly in a straight line. We’ve all been there. It wasn’t long after, though, that they noticed the wasps regained their composure and essentially rally.
“Once I even saw a few individuals lying on their backs. I was pretty sure they were going to die, but when I checked back a few minutes later, they had completely recovered,” said Sofia Bouchebti, an ecologist behind the study.
The reason experts believe these hornets have an alarmingly strong tolerance is their relationship with yeast. Hornets love to eat yeast, particularly in the winter. Because of that, they’re apparently building up their tolerance with each fermented fruit they eat.
For comparison, European honeybees are much more lightweight when it comes to their tolerance. Ingesting that same alcohol content ended up killing the test bees within 24 hours. After seeing this, the researchers upped the ante and eventually discovered that 80% absinthe was the max for what hornets could hold and survive.
I never was a fan of hornets before, but I have to admit, I have a newfound respect for them now
The post Scientists Got Hornets Wasted on Absinthe to Test Their Freakish Alcohol Tolerance appeared first on VICE.
The post Scientists Got Hornets Wasted on Absinthe to Test Their Freakish Alcohol Tolerance appeared first on VICE.
