Venomous Frogs Eat Murder Hornets
- Main Finding: Frogs (specifically black-spotted pond frogs - P.nigromaculatus) readily prey on hornets, even when getting stung.
- * Experiment: Shinji Sugiura offered frogs a "buffet" of female worker hornets from three species: V.
- Male wasps have a penis that can be used as a non-venomous stinger.
Here’s a breakdown of the key data from the provided text:
Main Finding: Frogs (specifically black-spotted pond frogs – P.nigromaculatus) readily prey on hornets, even when getting stung. They successfully capture and consume hornets despite the painful and possibly dangerous stings.
Details of the Study:
* Experiment: Shinji Sugiura offered frogs a “buffet” of female worker hornets from three species: V. analis, V. mandarinia (the “murder hornet”), and a species “very similar to a wasp”.
* Success Rate: Frogs were interested in eating all the hornet species, with a capture rate as high as 79% even for the largest and most dangerous, V. mandarinia.
* Observation: Images show hornets’ stingers embedded in the frogs’ mouths,confirming they are being stung during the process.
* Prior Evidence: Hornets have been found in the stomachs of frogs in the wild, suggesting this behavior occurs naturally.
Interesting Points:
* Female wasps (and hornets) have venomous stingers. Male wasps have a penis that can be used as a non-venomous stinger.
* “Murder hornets” (V. mandarinia) are the largest hornet species and have occasionally killed humans with their stings. They were briefly an invasive threat in North America.
* The frogs seem to tolerate the venom with no apparent harm, but how they do so is still unknown.