Crete Nature Blog: The Only Way Is Up

Here we are back at the Church of the Holy Cross, a couple of thousand feet up in the Thripti mountains.

Just before we begin our final ascent I’d like to bring your attention back to these hornets that are still busy buzzing around the ivy, as they are rather special. They are Oriental Hornets and you generally find them anywhere from Southwest Asia to North Africa and also here in the southernmost parts of Europe. You see those two yellow bands around the abdomen? When the sun hits them they react differently to the brown parts and a small amount of electricity is generated. They are, in fact, solar panels. Not content with being solar powered they are also astronauts. They were on board the 1992 Space Shuttle Endeavour mission but unfortunately nearly eighty percent of them died when their water supply failed. Probably make a good space thriller if we could persuade Matt Damon into a hornet suit. Now that’s what I call an interesting insect.

Read on at http://cretenature.blogspot.gr/2016/11/the-only-way-is-up.html

Posted on November 3, 2016 06:42 AM by