Vespa Orientalis

[aggienaut]

   Remember this lass? I know you were all on the edge of your seats to find out what it was. After some poking around I've determined that it appears to be an Oriental Hornet (Vespa orientalis).

   Interesting note on V. orientalis, they appear to use electricity!

   Various structures or constructions of the Oriental Hornet Vespa orientalis such as the cuticle, the spun silk and the comb cell walls discharge an electric current. In the dark, at a temperature range of 5 - 33° C, this current increases with rise in the temperature and decreases as the temperature drops. Between the ascending and descending "lines" of the current, a broad hysteresis is formed.þ The created current may attain a level of up to 700 nano Amperes (nA).
   Upon exposure to light of the hornets or its constructions, the electric current diminishes within minutes to its minimal values, no hysteresis is formed between the warming and cooling lines and the voltage increases.
...
   In the Discussion section, an attempt is made to explain the thermoelectric mechanism in pupal silk and its contribution, as thermometer and thermostat, to thermoregulation of the individual pupae, each of which is an independent thermal unit. The thermoregulation here is compared with the mode of action of heat pipes in industry. - source

   Also the above-linked website has some cute pictures, such as oriental hornets drinking milk, trying to fly away with too big a piece of ham, eating hamburger, and my favourite, being surprised by an ant.

Comments

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

The ham pictures is evidence of their superior taste in meals.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Also evidence that they are neither jewish nor muslim.

Hornet's taste

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

That doesn't look like a very good hamburger patty though.

Re: Hornet's taste

[joeymichaels.livejournal.com]

Sometimes, you got to eat your ham where you can find it.

[nationelectric.livejournal.com]

Alright, I've got to admit, this is the first time I've ever considered a hornet to be "cute."

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Hornets / wasps / bees / bumblebees are ALWAYS cute :D

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I love this picture though:



Hornet: "AAAAAAH!"
Ant: "AAAAAH!"

[pavel-lishin.livejournal.com]

Hahha, tha'ts great.

[nationelectric.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's pretty frickin' adorable. :)

Seriously, I'd never seen hornets (or wasps/bee/bumblebees) as cute before. And now... I guess I've kinda got to. At least, as the situation allows.

Thanks for sharing your perspective with me, and enlarging mine.

[heethen-crone.livejournal.com]

The pic of the hornet and ant is priceless. I don't like hornets as a rule, they are too fond of stinging me, but that is one beautiful species.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

I think I need to see if I can talk whirled into adding text bubbles into it like she's so good at. (:

[colt-4-5.livejournal.com]

Thats awesome. On a related note, Im a power plant operator. So bascially I make electricity for a living. And where I live, i've had to write several exams on power generation to get my licence, and one thing they dont cover is how electricity is generated naturally. I've always been intrigued by how animals make power! In fact, we've all known about electric eels.. but never electric Hornets! Interesting concept :D

[pavel-lishin.livejournal.com]

The phrase "electric hornet" actually makes me shiver a little.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

now I'm picturing them having little lightning bolt patterns on their sides.

[pavel-lishin.livejournal.com]

I'm picturing "Electric Gonorrhea: The Noisy Killer", from Futurama.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Lolz. don't think I saw that episode. I heart Futurama, I need to watch more of it.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Does what it says in the thing I quoted make sense to you? it doesn't really make much sense to me, having no background in electrics. All I actually gathered from it is they do something with electricity. Are they giving off electricity? storing it? using it to generate heat?

[pavel-lishin.livejournal.com]

The matrix has them.

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

I love the yellow blaze on their faces. My favorite might be the one drinking milk.

[emo-snal.livejournal.com]

Slurrrrrp!

[a-kosmos.livejournal.com]

Got milk.