Can Wasps Get Drunk Off Alcohol?
WouterThose who love beer are worried about the prospect of drunk wasps stinging people at beer gardens. These ‘boozy’ wasps are consuming fermented fruit and booze to become drunk. They are also swarming around pubs and picnic tables in summer.
The wasps have a genetic trait that causes them to be addicted to sugary food. Their queens stop laying eggs as the sugar supply dries up. This leaves a workforce of colonies with nothing to eat. The adult wasps need sugary fluid to survive.
The scientists believe this is natural behavior for fruit flies. They use their evolutionary advantage to fight parasites. They also use alcohol as a means of killing parasites. The alcohol is found in fermented fruit, which rots and gives off alcohol.
Alcohol is a natural part of fruit flies’ environment. But when parasites get a hold of their bloodstream, they burst and can eat the fruit fly larvae from the inside out. Flies that drink more alcohol are able to kill parasites. They also live longer and become larger.
Researchers have discovered that alcohol can make wasps drink, as well as causing them to become intoxicated. This makes them more aggressive pests. Some people have resorted to putting a few drops of alcohol on their fruit to kill the parasites. But it’s unclear if the alcohol in the flies will kill the wasps, or if the alcohol will kill the wasps themselves.
The Sussex Wildlife Trust is concerned about wasps’ ability to get drunk and says they can become very irritating. They advise people to dispose of trash properly and to avoid entering their nests.
