Call for arms and stings: Social wasps use alarm pheromones to coordinate their attacks

Humans might know them as vicious stingers, but yellow jacket wasps also impress with their vigorous protection over their young. To resolve the mystery around their complex defensive behavior, a Canadian research team, led by Dr. Sean McCann, Simon Fraser University, have used simple components to develop and construct a device that consequently helped them to locate the species-specific alarm pheromones in three wasp groups. The insects use the emission of these substances to mark the enemy threatening their colonies and then join forces against it. The study is published in the open-access Journal of Hymenoptera Research.

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