From Wikipedia:
"When an Apis cerana (Eastern Honey Bee) hive is invaded by the Japanese giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia), about 500 Japanese honey bees (A. cerana japonica) surround the hornet and vibrate their flight muscles until the temperature is raised to 47°C (117°F), heating the hornet to death, but keeping the temperature still under their own lethal limit (48-50°C). European honey bees (A. mellifera) lack this behavior."
Japanese humans also enjoy heating the hornet to death, but for other purposes: they deep fry and eat them.
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Odd fact of the day
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Well that was certainly interesting and something I did not know. Survival comes in many forms n'est-ce pas?
Janice: Yes, it does. Evolution fascinates.
Amazing, as I read today, that 10,000 years ago or so some mutant banana somewhere in S/E Asia made sweet flesh and no seeds instead of nasty flesh and big seeds like the rest of his banana brethren. Some hairy human ate it and liked it, and bananas and people became best buddies forever, traveling together from Fiji to Florida -- a pretty good survival trick.
Post a Comment