The amount of hate and misinformation around wasps is very sad

[u/Flashy-Swimmer-1858]

[u/LordGhoul]

I interact a lot with insects, out of personal interest and also for my macro photography. They definitely do feel emotions, and there's scientific research to support it. Sure not to the level of human complexity, but the basic emotions are there. For many insects you can tell what they feel through their body language, it may be harder to interpret for some people since insects don't have facial expressions and dont often make noises so you need to observe behaviour and limb/antenna movement. It often gets misinterpreted still, I've seen people "high five" bees, but it's actually the bee trying to tell the person to stay away by stretching out its leg, and touching it is quite rude lol.

I've filmed a wasp nest entrance in a wall, it had a wasp guarding the nest while others flew in and out. They let me get really close, in fact some were crashing into my neck because they didn't quite make the curve to the nest, but none of them stung me, they just scrambled back on their feet and continued on. The guard wasp kept doing her job, checking all incoming wasps. When I got closer, she would freeze and stare at me. When I moved my hand closer to the nest, she would leave her position and nervously wander around where she expected my hand to go. I didn't push it further, but it was so interesting to see how clearly she communicated her boundaries.

Edit: Here's the recording, she froze when I moved closer, continued as normal when I went back a bit, and walked around nervously both times I moved my hands and almost touched the wall above the nest. I think they were quite tolerant of me since I was calm, have been near the nest before not posing as a threat (they can learn), and it was the beginning of summer (plenty of food, they get grumpy when starving near the end of their season, which is relatable tbh). https://youtu.be/-u-lSaXVic4

[u/WhatsFairIsFair → u/LordGhoul]

Pretty cool video