Defending champion Luke Littler, and some of darts' biggest names, have been firmly upstaged over the opening week of the World Darts Championship - by a wasp!
The Alexandra Palace wasp is a phenomenon, notorious for wreaking havoc at the Worlds - but the 2026 tournament has arguably seen it hog the limelight more than ever.
Why does this keep happening? What is being done, if anything, to prevent its constant gatecrashing, and what have been the wasp's greatest Ally Pally moments?
By late autumn, colonies of worker wasps begin dying off due to food scarcity and the colder climate, leaving queen wasps to survive and hibernate through the winter.
As such, the Ally Pally wasp is likely a queen, whose hibernation has been intermittently interrupted by the lure of the warmer climate provided by the body heat of the thousands in attendance at the darts each evening, plus the warmth of the stage spotlights and broadcast equipment.
But why would the wasp be at the Palace in the first place?
The PDC said in a statement on the wasp: "It's nature... the venue has loads of open parkland here.
"At this time of year the queen wasps look for somewhere warm and dry so end up in places like this, especially given the doors that are open during the rig but also with fans arriving, etc.
"When inside they are drawn to light and heat, therefore end up at the stage."
Opened in 1875 and protected as a Grade II listed building, Alexandra Palace presents endless nooks and crannies for a wasp to nest through winter.
And, as mentioned in the PDC's statement, the building's location within 196 acres of parkland, rich in wildlife, further increases its attraction for insects seeking warmth and shelter.
The wasp's Ally Pally debut is largely believed to have occurred during Adrian Lewis' 2012 title defence, when The Jackpot was stung mid-match.
Speaking on stage after his opening-night win this year, reigning champion Luke Litter therefore took his own interaction with the wasp as a good omen. "Did he [Lewis] go on to defend it? He did. That might be written in the stars then for me."
It wasn't Littler and the wasp's first clash, as he thought he might have been stung during his 2024 quarter-final win over Brendan Dolan on his Worlds debut.
"I felt a little zap, I saw it fluttering around near the end," Littler said at the time. "It didn't bother me. I felt it a little bit. I'm not sure if I was stung."
Dolan has this year shared his own theory about the infamous Ally Pally wasp: "I felt like anybody who had the Ally Pally wasp, they were playing well.
"As soon as [Ross Smith] wiped it off, all his luck went. I was hoping it would land on me but in another way, I wouldn't like to get stung by it."
Smith, who certainly was stung - three times during a match in 2023 - was back in the wasp's sights when suffering an early exit to Andreas Harrysson this year, while Rob Cross failed to notice the wasp on his shoulder during his interview on stage after his first-round triumph over Cor Dekker.
There have also been a couple of close shaves for the wasp itself this year.
Following Luke Humphries' opening win over Ted Evetts, Evetts appeared to send the wasp packing with a firm flick of the finger as he clocked it on his shirt collar, waving it away with a grin.
But back it came, appearing again shortly afterwards during Gabriel Clemens' win over Alex Spellman, and again the following afternoon when, incredibly, seemingly struck by Nitin Kumar's dart mid-flight.
There have been numerous other sightings over the years, with Peter Wright's spray-haired mohawk even a target back in 2017, while it's also not just the darts that the wasp has got a taste for.
At The Masters snooker tournament held at Alexandra Palace earlier this year, the famed wasp was spotted buzzing around Shaun Murphy in the final against Kyren Wilson.
And as for the big question: is it the same wasp? Well, perhaps fittingly in the run up to Christmas, you've got to ask yourself if you consider yourself a believer?
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