Misuki Tsujiiresearcher of the kobe universityin Japan, was studying the worker wasps of the species Anterhynchium gibbifrons when one of them bit him. This could be something of the most normal thing that anyone who studies wasps is exposed to, if it were not for the fact that the one who did it was a male specimen. The scientist was shocked because, just like with bees, only females are supposed to be able to use this defensive strategy.
It is not common for males to bite and, in fact, it was thought that they could not. The females have sting which is actually a modified ovipositor. That is, an organ for laying eggs. Males do not have this structure, as is logical. But then how could this wasp sting Tsujii?
Faced with this question, the scientist and her colleagues began an investigation, now published in Current Biologyin which they conclude that males can also sting using something unexpected: their genitals.
Wasps that sting with their genitals
To test how the males of this species of wasp could sting, the researchers exposed some of them to one of their main predators: the tree frog. Dryophytes japonica.
They saw that by confining them together, all the frogs attacked wasps, without exception. However, just over a third spat them out. It was the typical reaction to defend against an attack. Therefore, when checking the images, they saw that the wasps had used their genitals to sting the frogs and prevent them from eating them.
At least that’s what it looked like. To be sure, the researchers took a few males and they removed their genitals. Later, they put them back in contact with the frogs, which already ate them without a problem.
What do they bite with?
It should be noted that the males of this and other families of wasps have a structure known as genital spine, whose name says it all. These structures have always been studied for their reproductive role. However, despite its pointed shape, it had not been considered that it could serve as a defensive weapon.
We now know that they could use it against frogs as well as against any other species that poses a threat to them. And that includes us humans. Because, as much as we sometimes hate wasps, the truth is that they are more afraid of us than we are of them. That’s why they bite, because they feel threatened. If we leave them alone, chances are they won’t sting us, neither with their stingers nor with their genitals.
