An alcohol-only diet would throw most species for a loop, but new research suggests that hornets can live—apparently unimpaired—with an 80 percent ethanol sugar solution as their sole food source.

Fruit flies, tree shrews and many other animals naturally consume alcohol in fruits that ferment; this happens when yeast or certain bacteria are around to break down sugars in ripe fruit, creating small amounts of ethanol. Most animal species show signs of impairment or toxicity after consuming this substance at concentrations above 4 percent.