Why do bees sting even though they would die after?
In: Biology
1. Only when they sting mammals. Stinging other insects punches a hole in the exoskeleton of the intact and they can take the singer out no problem. Our skin is elastic and causes it to get stuck
2. They don’t know that they will die
3. The stinging bees are worker bees aka non-queen females. These bees are genetically identical to the queen and , in a healthy hive, will never lay eggs. These gene pool does not know if these bees live or die, so there’s no evolutionary mechanism that benefits from them living. Their behaviour will only impact their ability to “pass on their genes” if they fail to protect the queen. If by stinging an invading bear they can protect the queen, then they are helping pass on their genes, even if they die in the process
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