Mary Randolph in Smithsonian Magazine:
For a mouse several times its size, a sting from the “murder hornet” is deadly. For a colony of honeybees, the insects are catastrophic. The hornet even ignited fear in humans several years ago, when it arrived in North America as an invasive species. But for the black-spotted pond frog, the largest hornet in the world is nothing but a harmless snack.
A new study, published December 3 in Ecosphere, tested the ability of the frog, native to Japan, to consume hornets and withstand their stings. The paper details pond frogs devouring murder hornets, among other species.
“While a mouse of similar size can die from a single sting, the frogs showed no noticeable harm, even after being stung repeatedly,” says Shinji Sugiura, the sole author of the study and an ecologist at Kobe University in Japan, in a statement. “This extraordinary level of resistance to powerful venom makes the discovery both unique and exciting.”
More here.
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