Facial Markings

Competition is fierce in the animal world. This is no less true among wasps. The problem, however, is that if every wasp had to fight every other wasp for dominance, then all you would end up with is an injured population of champions and opportunists.

Photo source: LiveScience.com
But Mother Nature has found a way to cut back on all the fighting. Elizabeth Tibbetts, a behavioral ecologist at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor, has discovered that paper wasps (Polistes dominulus) have facial markings that are used as signals to other wasps. The larger and better fed a wasp is, the more black markings the wasp has on its face. These markings function as warning signals to other wasps, telling them that they might not want to tangle with the black-faced insect facing them.

I recommend reading the whole LiveScience article. Prepared to be marveled by the complexity of nature.

This discovery has led me to consider my own facial markings during my teenage years. I now understand why my acne warded off females for all those lonely years.

Thanks for the link, Ida.