Ask Gregorsa 1: Making Friends

This is the first Ask Gregorsa episode! You can watch it here!
=== Question: ===
"Professor Gregorsa, how do I let bugs know that i want to be their friends" -areyoustillthere0
===Gregorsa's Answer: ===
It's a lot simpler than you think! Most insects are quick to determine whether or not something is a hazard to them. You've probably unknowingly made friends with fruitflies by providing them with a place to rest and valuable salts and oils on your skin. Certain insects can recognize you as a unique individual. Honey bees and paper wasps of the species Polistes fuscatus can distinguish each other based on their faces. Not only that, but it appears they can learn to recognize human faces as well.
"You don't need to do anything special. Just don't do anything to do harm. Show that you're not an enemy, and you won't be treated like one. Of course, it couldn't hurt to bring a sugary treat now and then." - Gregorsa
=== Sources===
* Tibbetts, E.A. (2002, July 22). Visual Signals of Individual Identity in the Wasp Polistes fuscatus. Proceedings of the Royal Society of London B, 269(1499), 1423-1428.
* Tibbetts, E.A., & Dale, J. (2007, October 1). Individual Recognition: It Is Good to Be Different. Trends in Ecology and Evolution, 22(10), 529-537.
* Avargues-Weber, A., Portelli, G., Benard, J., Dyer, A. G, & Giurfa, M. (2010, February 15) Configural Processing Enables Discrimination and Categorizationof Face-like Stimuli. Journal of Experimental Biology, 213(4), 593-601.
* Sheehan, M.J., & Tibbetts, E.A. (2011, December 2). Specialized Face Learning Is Associated with Individual Recognition in Paper Wasps. Science, 334(6060),1272-1275
Category:Ask Gregorsa