Sociable wasps have an eye for faces

At first glance, we might think that all wasps look the same. But if you look closer at the face of a paper waspPolistes fuscatus, you’ll see a variety of distinctive markings. Each face has its own characteristic splashes of red, black, ochre and yellow, and it’s reasonably easy to tell individuals apart. And that’s exactly what the wasps can do. Michael Sheehan and Elizabeth Tibbetts have shown that these sociable insects have evolved the special ability to recognise each others’ faces. They can learn the difference between different faces more quickly than between other images, or between faces whose features have been rearranged. It’s an adaptation to a social life, and one that a close but solitary relative – Polistes metricus – does not share. Other animals also have the ability to recognise faces, including a variety of mammals such as humans, other primates, dogs and sheep. This skill ...