paper wasp

Paper wasps all look the same, right? An animal behaviorist at Cornell University reports that the wasp’s black-and-yellow uniform is not uniform at all. One wasp, she has discovered, can recognize another through facial and abdominal markings, all but displacing the scientific dogma that insects carry out identification and communication only by employing chemicals called pheromones. “Their faces are far more beautiful and different than you’d expect,” says Elizabeth Tibbetts.