Oriental Hornets Show Unique Tolerance to Alcohol, Israeli Research Reveals
An Israeli study has discovered that oriental hornets (Vespa orientalis) can consume large amounts of alcohol without adverse effects on their health or lifespan. Researchers from Tel Aviv University announced on Sunday that these hornets can ingest alcohol chronically and at high concentrations, showing no signs of intoxication or behavioral changes.
The research, published in the Proceedings of the US National Academy of Sciences, suggests that this unique ability could lead to new models for studying alcoholism and alcohol metabolism in humans. The team found that when the hornets consumed alcohol labeled with a heavy carbon isotope, they rapidly metabolized it and exhaled it as carbon dioxide.
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“Even when consuming high concentrations of alcohol, there was no noticeable effect on the hornets’ behavior,” the study noted, indicating they do not become intoxicated. Additionally, hornets that consumed only alcohol for their entire three-month lifespan lived just as long as those that drank sugar water.
The scientists conducted a bioinformatics analysis and discovered that the hornets possess multiple copies of the gene responsible for producing the enzyme that breaks down alcohol. This genetic adaptation may explain their remarkable ability to handle alcohol.
The researchers proposed that the hornets’ practice of storing yeast in their digestive systems, which allows the yeast to grow and transfer to fruits, may have led to the development of this genetic trait. Alcohol is commonly produced by the breakdown of sugars by yeasts and bacteria in ripe fruits and nectar. While alcohol contains nearly twice the energy of sugar, it is toxic to most animals and humans, especially with chronic use.
This study contrasts with other animals known to consume alcohol, such as fruit flies and treeshrews, which exhibit signs of alcohol poisoning or symptoms like fatty liver even at low concentrations.
