Experiment suggests social wasps evolved an efficient facial recognition system
Cool article. It looks like they only tested this with wasp faces, though — still inconclusive as to whether the wasps around my yard hate me personally.
I really hope not as otherwise they would recognize me as their attempted assassin…
Ours have gotten more pleasant as we’ve fostered umbellifers (plants with big pads of flowers, like those in Apiaceae (like carrot)) and other large flower displays made up of lots of tiny flowers. The busiest seem to be pepperbush (Clethra alnifolia), New Jersey Tea (Ceanothus americanus and my favorite plant), and boneset (Eupatorium perfoliatum). Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is usually pretty popular as well - if these are native or naturalized to your area they’d be a good way to lower the competitive pressure for food sources, which makes many wasps way less pushy. If not, I hope you’re able to find some locally adapted species of plants to fill this niche.
Or just don’t pick all your apples. I’ve got dozens of drunk wasps in my yard right now. They aren’t less aggressive, but they can’t fly straight.
Anecdotally: I have a pretty decent working relationship with the myriad species of wasps living around our home, in that I can do my gardening work around them without fear of being stung. When my brother who looks very much like me visits he is not investigated to the extent that other visitors are, even when several of us are together in a group.
I realize this isn’t entirely germane to the article but it certainly crossed my mind while reading.
