Wednesday, September 24, 2008

The Secret Life of a (Very) Social Wasp : Discovery News

Female paper wasps can't perform an "air kiss," hug or shake hands, but like humans, they look each other over and remember individuals for at least a week after first meeting them. They then base subsequent encounters on these first impressions.

Scientists previously thought only humans and other big-brained creatures could remember social encounters over long periods of time, with insects possessing more fleeting memories. Since the paper wasp brain is less than a millionth the size of our brains, some assumptions about social cognition now appear wrong.

The Secret Life of a (Very) Social Wasp : Discovery News
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