Venom trait differences between commonly reared wasps and the Western honeybee

In traditional Chinese medicine， honeybee venom and wasp venom are widely used for dispelling wind， detoxifying， combating microbes， reducing inflammation， and relieving swelling and pain. The components of honeybee venom have been well characterized； nevertheless， those of wasp venom remain largely unexplored. Therefore， it is necessary to clarify the compositional differences between wasp venom and honeybee venom. In this study， three wasp species （Vespa basalis Smith， Vespa mandarina Smith and Vespa velutina Lepeletier） and the Western honeybee （Apis melliferia Linnaeus） were selected to investigate their body sizes and venom sac sizes. Liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry （LC-MS/MS） was employed for component analysis to identify venom polypeptides and proteins. Additionally， the contents of amino acids and 5-hydroxytryptamine， as well as the bioactivities of phospholipase and hyaluronidase， were determined. The results showed that wasps had significantly larger body sizes and venom sac sizes than honeybees， indicating that wasps likely produce greater quantities of venom. Despite the lack of reference data in public databases， which hindered the annotation of many polypeptides and proteins， the overall composition of wasp venom was found to differ from that of honeybee venom. Specifically， notable differences were observed in polypeptides， venom allergens， and phospholipases between the two venoms， along with discrepancies in 18 common amino acid contents. Moreover， wasp venom contained a significantly higher level of 5-hydroxytryptamine than honeybee venom. Unexpectedly， the bioactivities of phospholipase and hyaluronidase in wasp venom were significantly lower than those in honeybee venom. Collectively， the unique compositional profile of wasp venom suggests that further research on its components is necessary， which may help to reveal the potential of wasp venom as a medicinal resource.