It is not coincidental that they are called ‘killer hornets’: their stings are so poisonous that they can kill not only their intended prey – honey bees – but even small rodents. The sting of an Asian giant hornet is also extremely painful for humans. But not all animals are susceptible to the poison, writes Japanese biologist Shinji Sugiura in the magazine Ecosphere. Some amphibians, including the Japanese black-spotted frog, have hornets in their stomachs. That indicates that the sting should not be too painful for them, Sugiura suspected.
To test that hypothesis, he placed the frogs in the lab together with stinging females of three different Japanese hornet species. All three species attacked the frogs, but they devoured their prey without significant problems. The poison is probably aimed at birds and mammals because they sometimes attack wasp and bee nests, and could therefore also target hornets.
Amphibians thus escape the competition, although it must be said that the Asian giant hornet was slightly less popular with frogs than the other two species: only 4 out of 5 individuals were eaten. Maybe the frog feels some pain after all. In any case, Sugiura suggests that the frogs’ response is interesting in understanding why the poison works better on some vertebrates than others.
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