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I saw a wasp help another wasp get its leg out of a gap between a light fixture and some siding. I saw the whole thing, I was watching the stuck wasp because i

by jcims 5y ago

I saw a wasp help another wasp get its leg out of a gap between a light fixture and some siding. I saw the whole thing, I was watching the stuck wasp because it was trying to fly away but its foot was pinned. As I’m watching, another wasp flies by, slows down, turns around and lands by the stuck one. The helper just kind of bit at the foot and pulled on it. After a couple of tugs it broke free (or off) and they both flew away. I went and found how many neurons they have in their brain, I can’t find it now but it was under a million maybe 500k or so. I thought it was remarkably complex behavior. And then I killed them both. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

robotresearcher 5y ago
Wasp brains are remarkable in their few neurons. Some species have only single-digit thousands. https://www.nature.com/articles/480294a https://www.nature.com/articles/480294a
- jtsiskin 5y ago
  Wow, 4,600 neurons. I wonder how large a neural net would need to be to replicate the same behavior
  - jcims 5y ago
    My guess is we'll need a model the scale of GPT3 to simulate a single neuron.
7952 5y ago
Worker male wasps in social colonies are more closely related to each other than in other species (like humans). They develop from unfertalized eggs so inherit more of the same genes (75%). This may have lead to more alturistic behaviour as the best way to propogate genes is through siblings rather than offspring.