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Humans are generally thought to have the highest tolerance for alcohol in the animal kingdom. We could outdrink lions, despite their larger size, in a heartbeat. But surprisingly, certain hornets might have us beat.

Scientists recently discovered that a certain species of hornets, despite their small size, can handle their alcohol unlike any other animal on the planet, according to New Scientist.

A study published earlier this month by researchers from Israel’s Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and Tel Aviv University discovered that the oriental hornet (Vespa orientalis) often consumes foods containing alcohol without affecting its behavior.

This is because the hornets are used to a diet that consists of nectar and ripe fruits. The sugar in the fruits naturally ferments over time, turning into ethanol.

While nutritious, ethanol is also highly intoxicating. Most creatures that routinely eat fermenting fruits, such as fruit flies, cannot stomach more than four percent ethanol, but the V. orientalis doesn’t appear to even get a buzz.

To arrive at this result, lead researcher Sofia Bouchebti and her team gave hornets nothing to eat for a week except sugary solutions containing different percentages of ethanol, ranging from one to 80 percent. The hornets seemed completely unaffected by the ethanol and their behavior and lifespan remained unchanged.

“In the beginning, we did the experiment only with 20 percent (ethanol) and we were already amazed,” co-author Eran Levin told New Scientist.

The 80 percent ethanol figure was “even harder to believe,” as this amount of alcohol content is four times higher than anything found in nature.

The answer to this mystery lies in the insect’s genes: The researchers analyzed the genomes of various hornet species and found that hornets have two to four copies that produce the NADP+ gene, which helps break down alcohol.

“To the best of our knowledge, no other animal has shown such resistance to ethanol under chronic consumption conditions,” Levin told Science News.

Still, other researchers questioned Levin’s findings, noting that it is hard to compare data from other animal studies.

The authors now hope to conduct further research to confirm their findings and delve deeper into other aspects, such as whether ethanol consumption affects the social interactions of the hornets.

For now, though, the oriental hornet passes the sobriety test.