Last Friday night’s episode of Hannibal marked the first appearance of Margot Verger, being played in the series by Freddy vs. Jason/Ginger Snaps star Katharine Isabelle. Margot is the sister of Mason Verger, a character who appeared in the Hannibal novel and 2001 film, and will soon make his presence known on the TV series; according to IMDb, Mason joins the show next Friday night, being played by Michael Pitt.

A sadistic pedophile, Mason Verger was – in the book and film – a surviving victim of the wrath of Hannibal Lecter, an attack that left his face mutilated beyond all recognition. Verger was known for drinking martinis laced with the tears of his own victims, a sickening proclivity that was briefly hinted at on last week’s episode of the show.

Pretty disturbing, right? Well, if you think Mason’s the only one who gets off on drinking human tears, allow me to introduce you to the ‘Hymenoptera: Apidae,’ a species of bee that just can’t get enough of the salty goodness that flows from our eyes when we’re all sad and bummed out and shit.

Yes, these nasty little bees actually consume human tears, latching on to the eyelids of their hosts and suckling up the beady pearls of nutrient-laced depression. Recently discovered in Thailand, the tear-sucking bees are so small that most people they land on don’t even notice they’re there, and sometimes several of them work together to lap up the tear juice from a single eye.

Researchers estimate that this strange species of bee uses tears as its main protein source, and that the high salt content of the liquid sadness is simply irresistible to them. They’re also not above drinking sweat, which has a similarly high percentage of salt.

The Hymenoptera: Apidae has no interest in stinging its victims, if that’s any consolation…