日前，Michael Sheehan 等研究人员在Science期刊上发表了他们最新的研究成果"Specialized Face Learning Is Associated with Individual Recognition in Paper Wasps"，称黄蜂具有高度发达的视觉识别能力，能识别其它黄蜂独特的面部特征，黄蜂之间识别彼此面部的方式与人类的一致。
在夏天，你会对一群让人反感的黄蜂留下深刻印象，它们嗡嗡得随意乱飞仿佛在寻找能够享用的食物。但是，黄蜂事实上能识别出“朋友”，并对“陌生的家伙”进行行动攻击。这是因为它们具有高度发达的视觉识别能力，能识别其它黄蜂独特的面部特征，其它昆虫不具备这一能力。
人们之前认为，小而简单大脑让昆虫不能彼此识别，因为识别过程需要处理大量的信息。
来自密西根大学的科学家训练两组黄蜂去辨别T形盒子内部相似图像。
研究人员对每一对图像进行40次实验，这些图像来自于其它黄蜂幼虫，由简单几何图样和电脑修改的黄蜂面部构成。黄蜂能够较快地识别未经修改的黄蜂图像，并节约1/4的时间去挑选正确的图像。
当计算机对图像做出很小的修改（如去除触角）时，黄蜂会在面部识别测试中表现得很糟糕。通讯作者Michael Sheehan 称：“即便昆虫眼部能敏锐地发现色彩反差和轮廓，但是黄蜂并不擅长识别简单地黑白几何图样。”
研究小组之前表明，黄蜂在分开一周后还能认识彼此，事实上，它们是唯一一种能够识别面部的昆虫，这表明相互认识在等级制度和后代抚养方式上具有重要作用。
黄蜂生活在多蜂后的群体中，后者协同抚养后代。作者认为，这能避免黄蜂浪费能量在相遇攻击上，并促进群体的稳定。
Sheehan 称：“尽管在观看方式和大脑结构上人类和黄蜂存在差异，但是，两者都独立进化出相似、非常特化的面部识别机制，这一点令人吃惊和奇怪。”（生物谷Bioon.com）
doi:10.1126/science.1211334
PMC:
PMID:
Specialized Face Learning Is Associated with Individual Recognition in Paper Wasps
Michael J. Sheehan, Elizabeth A. Tibbetts
We demonstrate that the evolution of facial recognition in wasps is associated with specialized face-learning abilities. Polistes fuscatus can differentiate among normal wasp face images more rapidly and accurately than nonface images or manipulated faces. A close relative lacking facial recognition, Polistes metricus, however, lacks specialized face learning. Similar specializations for face learning are found in primates and other mammals, although P. fuscatus represents an independent evolution of specialization. Convergence toward face specialization in distant taxa as well as divergence among closely related taxa with different recognition behavior suggests that specialized cognition is surprisingly labile and may be adaptively shaped by species-specific selective pressures such as face recognition.
