By Kobe U., December 9, 2025
https://scitechdaily.com/small-frog-takes-on-deadly-murder-hornets-and-wins/
https://scitechdaily.com/small-frog-takes-on-deadly-murder-hornets-and-wins/
Kobe University ecologist Shinji Sugiura discovered that the black-spotted pond frog seems to be unharmed and undaunted by venomous stings from hornets such as the Asian giant hornet, the largest in the world.
Credit: Shinji Sugiura, Ecosphere 2025 (DOI 10.1002/ecs2.70457)
Researchers have found that pond frogs can withstand repeated stings from hornets, including the powerful Asian giant hornet, while actively hunting and eating them.
In controlled experiments, most frogs successfully attacked and consumed the hornets even after being stung in sensitive areas like the mouth and eyes. Their resilience far exceeds that of similarly sized mammals, which can die from a single sting.
Animals That Dare to Hunt Hornets
Most people find a hornet’s stinger frightening enough from a safe distance, yet several predators, including certain birds, spiders, and frogs, regularly target adult hornets. A sting from these insects can unleash intense pain along with tissue damage and serious complications such as the destruction of red blood cells and cardiac dysfunction, any of which can be fatal. Scientists have long wondered whether hornet-eating animals can actually endure the venom or simply manage to avoid being stung during the attack.
As Kobe University ecologist Shinji Sugiura explains, “Although stomach-content studies had shown that pond frogs sometimes eat hornets, no experimental work had ever examined how this occurs.”
The venomous stinger of an Asian giant hornet (Vespa mandarinia). The venom injected by this stinger can cause sharp, intense pain as well as local tissue damage and systemic effects such as destruction of red blood cells and cardiac dysfunction, which may even be fatal.
Credit: Shinji Sugiura, Ecosphere 2025 (DOI 10.1002/ecs2.70457)
Testing Frogs Against Venomous Hornets
To explore whether pond frogs evade or tolerate stings, Sugiura carried out controlled experiments in which individual adult frogs were offered workers from three hornet species: Vespa simillima, V. analis, and V. mandarinia. Each frog participated in only one trial and was paired with prey of an appropriate size. Larger frogs were intentionally matched with Asian giant hornet (V. mandarinia) workers, widely known as the murder hornet.
Frogs Attack and Consume Hornets Despite Stings
In findings published in the journal Ecosphere, Sugiura reports that the frogs did not hesitate to confront hornet workers. They launched direct attacks on all three species, and most ultimately consumed their prey. The success rates were high, with 93 percent, 87 percent, and 79 percent of frogs consuming V. simillima, V. analis, and the murder hornet V. mandarinia, respectively. Many frogs were stung in the mouth or even in the eyes during the encounters.
According to Sugiura, “While a mouse of similar size can die from a single sting, the frogs showed no noticeable harm even after being stung repeatedly. This extraordinary level of resistance to powerful venom makes the discovery both unique and exciting.”
To explore whether pond frogs evade or tolerate stings, Sugiura carried out controlled experiments in which individual adult frogs were offered workers from three hornet species: Vespa simillima, V. analis, and V. mandarinia. Each frog participated in only one trial and was paired with prey of an appropriate size. Larger frogs were intentionally matched with Asian giant hornet (V. mandarinia) workers, widely known as the murder hornet.
Frogs Attack and Consume Hornets Despite Stings
In findings published in the journal Ecosphere, Sugiura reports that the frogs did not hesitate to confront hornet workers. They launched direct attacks on all three species, and most ultimately consumed their prey. The success rates were high, with 93 percent, 87 percent, and 79 percent of frogs consuming V. simillima, V. analis, and the murder hornet V. mandarinia, respectively. Many frogs were stung in the mouth or even in the eyes during the encounters.
According to Sugiura, “While a mouse of similar size can die from a single sting, the frogs showed no noticeable harm even after being stung repeatedly. This extraordinary level of resistance to powerful venom makes the discovery both unique and exciting.”
The black-spotted pond frog shows remarkable tolerance to venomous stings from an Asian giant hornet. The stings caused no visible harm and the frog behaved normally after predation.
Close-up views of the hornet’s stinger embedded in the frog’s mouth are shown in the circular insets in (C) and (D).
Credit: Shinji Sugiura, Ecosphere 2025 (DOI 10.1002/ecs2.70457)
What Pain and Lethality Reveal About Venom
Earlier research has shown that the intensity of pain from an insect sting does not always match its ability to cause severe or lethal effects. Some bees, wasps, and ants can inflict extremely painful but non-lethal stings, while others deliver venom that is highly toxic but not especially painful. This pattern suggests that the frogs in Sugiura’s study may have evolved a form of double resilience, enabling them to handle both the pain and the toxic components of hornet venom while still capturing and eating hornet workers.
Earlier research has shown that the intensity of pain from an insect sting does not always match its ability to cause severe or lethal effects. Some bees, wasps, and ants can inflict extremely painful but non-lethal stings, while others deliver venom that is highly toxic but not especially painful. This pattern suggests that the frogs in Sugiura’s study may have evolved a form of double resilience, enabling them to handle both the pain and the toxic components of hornet venom while still capturing and eating hornet workers.
Almost all frogs in the study attacked the hornets, and although the hornets stung the frogs repeatedly, 93%, 87%, and 79% of frogs ultimately consumed Vespa simillima, V. analis, and V. mandarinia, respectively.
Credit: Shinji Sugiura, Ecosphere 2025 (DOI 10.1002/ecs2.70457)
New Questions About How Frogs Resist Venom
Sugiura notes that the discovery raises major questions about how these amphibians protect themselves.
“This raises an important question for future work,” he adds, “namely whether pond frogs have physiological mechanisms such as physical barriers or proteins that block the pain and toxicity of hornet venom, or whether hornet toxins have simply not evolved to be effective in amphibians, which rarely attack hornet colonies.”
Because of this unusual resistance, pond frogs may become important model organisms for studying venom tolerance and pain resistance in vertebrates in the years ahead.
New Questions About How Frogs Resist Venom
Sugiura notes that the discovery raises major questions about how these amphibians protect themselves.
“This raises an important question for future work,” he adds, “namely whether pond frogs have physiological mechanisms such as physical barriers or proteins that block the pain and toxicity of hornet venom, or whether hornet toxins have simply not evolved to be effective in amphibians, which rarely attack hornet colonies.”
Because of this unusual resistance, pond frogs may become important model organisms for studying venom tolerance and pain resistance in vertebrates in the years ahead.
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