There is a common behavior among many mammals, insects, and reptiles. They play dead or show their immobility. When these animals need to face a situation that can be dangerous for them, they may appear lifeless. Some animals even use special odors that are similar to the smell of decaying flesh to persuade their potential threat that they’re dead. But can wasps play dead too?
Wasps don’t play dead, and when they die, this truly means their life cycle has ended. They don’t belong to the group of animals that have this defense mechanism. Wasps use another defensive mechanism, which has proved to work very well for them – they sting their prey or threat.
It’s also important to note that female worker wasps have an average lifespan of 12-22 days, male wasps live a little bit longer than that. And the queens, which are responsible for reproduction, live for about 12 months.
Why do animals play dead?
The process by which animals play dead is also called thanatosis, which from Greek means “putting to death”. It’s interesting because animals usually use it to avoid unwanted attention. Many animals, including insects, reptiles, and mammals use this technique for different purposes. For example, to catch prey, escape from a predator, or even for reproduction.
There is one animal that is most commonly associated with playing dead – opossum. It’s so common that playing dead can even be referred to as “playing possum”. Under a threat, opossums go into shock, which makes their heart rate and breathing drop.
They fall down unconscious, becoming stiff. Opossums can also excrete certain odors that are similar to the smell of the dead. They can remain in this “dead” state for four hours.
When it comes to insects, ants, beetles, and spiders can play dead.
Ants, which are just a few days old under attack, play dead. Beetles also play dead when they get attacked by predators, such as jumping spiders. And the more beetles can pretend to be dead, the bigger their chance to survive. Huntsman spiders, house spiders, black widow spiders also act dead, when they feel they are in danger.
Why don’t wasps play dead?
Wasps don’t use this defensive method because they are good with their own defense – a sting. Playing dead would not help wasps in any way. They are aggressive predators that attack, and in the cases when the wasp is in danger, playing dead would only make them easy prey.
Wasps don’t play dead as they have other defense methods, such as stinging their threat. Wasps protect their nest, that’s why they always need to be ready to attack.
Playing dead will not help to save their nest from a threat.
Many different animals and insects eat wasps. They have thick skin that helps them to be less sensitive to stings. They have a quick reaction to avoid stings and are able to easily resist the threat that wasps may present.
There are at least 24 bird species that eat wasps. These include mockingbird, blackbird, magpie, starling, and hummingbird. A variety of omnivorous mammals belongs to animals that prey on wasps. For example, stoats, weasels, and mice. Also, black bears love eating honey in beehives, where wasps can be also found.
Some species of reptiles enjoy eating wasps as well. There is one small lizard that wasps hate the most because of the damage that it can cause. Geckos are known for their ability to eat through wasp nests to eat the larvae. Polistes have a harsh sting, but it doesn’t stop Asian geckos from eating them. Some types of frogs, salamanders, and toads also prey on wasps and their larvae.
Spiders and robber flies can also eat wasps. Spiders will eat any wasps that will be caught in their web. Robber flies can paralyze wasps and other insects with neurotoxin, which helps them to avoid sting and enjoy eating their prey.
From this list of threats for wasps, we can see that playing dead would have never helped them to get away alive from these animals. In these situations sometimes even sting doesn’t help, so not moving would only make it worse for wasps.
How do you recognize a dead wasp?
During fall many wasps start to die. They can’t tolerate very cold temperatures, that’s why they are not expected to survive. However, this is the case for all the worker wasps that are responsible for building nests, collecting food, and taking care of larvae. Mostly, the queens are the only wasps that can survive the winter.
Dying wasps aren’t going to be as mobile as active wasps that are living a healthy life. When a wasp is dying, it’s going to be very weak and you’ll most often see it sulking around.
Dying wasps are lethargic.
If a wasp is not moving for a long period of time, lies on its back, it is definitely dead. it is very easy to recognize if you pay close attention to the movements. You should not be afraid that a wasp that doesn’t move can suddenly come to life and attack you. It’s not true, and you are completely safe.
You still need to remember that dead wasps can sting, and mostly they sting people who try to squash them in their hands. You should not do this because the stinger may be active for a short period of time after the wasp dies and that puts you at the risk of getting stung (Can Dead Wasps Sting? – Painful Facts).
Can wasps come back to life?
This is a tricky question. When the wasp dies as its life cycle comes to an end, then it can’t come back to life.
Wasps can’t revive.
However, there are some exceptions to this rule. Most wasps die faster, but the queen wasp survives the winter so that she can start the new reproduction cycle in spring. The queen goes into hibernation, which is definitely not an easy process.
The queen has to change her behavior, prevent freezing, starvation, and being attacked by predators. They usually hibernate in places, where they are hard to reach by potential threats, and where it’s warm enough. The best places for hibernation are crevices in the rock and small burrows in the ground.
Wasp queens wake up in spring.
When the sun becomes powerful again after a long winter the queens reactivate and start building the new nest. Hibernation can be considered as the process after which wasps come back to life. While hibernation wasps don’t move, which may be perceived as if they are dead. And after this process, they come back to life to create new colonies.
