To
scientists, the Oriental hornet was a mystery. Unlike other species of wasp and
hornet, they’re most active when the sun is at its hottest, a phenomenon which
goes against the popular reasoning that, in order to conserve energy and
maintain a healthy body temperature, animals are most energetic when the sun is
lowest.
It
was only through analyzing the biology of the hornet that scientists from Tel
Aviv University discovered why. The brown stripes on the hornet are grooves
which trap light and refract it into two distinctive beams that then pass
through a series of pinhole depressions in the yellow stripes and mix with the
naturally occurring pigment xanthopterin to create electricity. Effectively, the hornet is able convert solar radiation
into electricity, which it then uses for activities including burrowing. Even
better, the hornet uses some of this electricity to operate a complicated
system of heat pumps inside its body which act as a built-in air conditioning
unit and enable it to stay out in the sun for longer without overheating.
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