Researchers first noticed something odd about the Oriental hornet in the early 1990s:Instead of being lazy-bums during the bright midday hours like other wasps, the Oriental hornet was extremely active.When the late entomologistJacob Ishaystarted studying the hornets in 1991 he discovered some mind-boggling features oftheir exoskeleton, explains John Rennie atPLoS Blogs:Ishay found that shining light on the hornets—live, anesthetized or even dead—could produce voltage differences of several hundred millivolts across their hard exoskeletons, which suggested that thecuticle material making up the exoskeletons was effectively an organic semiconductor converting lightinto electricity. Indeed, Ishay even found that shining ultraviolet light on an anesthetized hornet would wake it up faster, as though the light were recharging the insect.
Sumber: Discover magazine Agustus 2014
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