Why has a bee's sting evolved to be barbed?

Originally posted by divegeester
'ribbed for pleasure' is not the same as barbed

Tell that to the cat!

Originally posted by divegeester
I'm going to post this in spirituality as the idea may be worth exploring there also.

Thoughts?

Does kinda go against the survival nature ingrained in all living things, does it not?

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
Does kinda go against the survival nature ingrained in all living things, does it not?

How do you know this 'survival nature' thing is ingrained in all living things?
Certainly we humans like to stay alive as long as we can. This alone is not sufficient evidence to support your statement.
With insects especially, I'm guessing it's pretty easy to get castes or types that are specialised for certain tasks - some of which might require an individual of that type to give up their life for the good of the greater community.
Come to think of it, we humans have been known to do that occasionally as well ...

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
Does kinda go against the survival nature ingrained in all living things, does it not?

Yes, strange isn't it?

It's like the male black widow who gets eaten after fertilizing the female, or the praying mantis who bites of the male's head or the progenitors of many, many species that are ready to give their lives in hopeless fights just to give their offspring time and a chance of escape or... [LIST TOO LONG].

You get the picture. I hope.

The list of examples of poor evolutionary developments is indeed long, and just proves that there may just be something to those who are reluctant to just accept ANY theory hook-line-and-sinker.

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
The list of examples of poor evolutionary developments is indeed long, and just proves that there may just be something to those who are reluctant to just accept ANY theory hook-line-and-sinker.

So you don't want to rephrase your ridiculous statement about the "survival nature ingrained in ALL living things"?

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
The list of examples of poor evolutionary developments is indeed long, and just proves that there may just be something to those who are reluctant to just accept ANY theory hook-line-and-sinker.

strawman

Originally posted by Palynka
So you don't want to rephrase your ridiculous statement about the "survival nature ingrained in ALL living things"?

Well....no. 🙂

Originally posted by AThousandYoung
strawman

what did u call me? 😀

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
The list of examples of poor evolutionary developments is indeed long, and just proves that there may just be something to those who are reluctant to just accept ANY theory hook-line-and-sinker.

"poor evolutionary development" what does THAT mean?!?!

Evolution is determined by survival of the fittest so almost by definition your phrase is a contradiction.

If you are alluding to species that are extinct then again that is evidence for the success of evolution (non-survival of the non-fittest)

When you look at all the diverse habitats in the world I think it amazing how evolution has produced life for every available niche.

Originally posted by PinkFloyd
what did u call me? 😀

I said you were brilliant like the Straw Man in Wizard of Oz. His head was filled with brains by the Wizard and he was given a Diploma!

Originally posted by divegeester
I'm going to post this in spirituality as the idea may be worth exploring there also.

Thoughts?

Because there is a queen bee with plenty of males. As someone pointed out in the spirituality forum of all places, only the worker bees can die in this way, releasing a chemical that alerts all the bees to attack. I assume in this way they have evolved to protect the queen and therefore the species survives and evolves. one dead bee makes no difference to the survival of the hive collective, and probably increase the chances of the collectives survival.

Oh yes, and of course by being barbed it will stay in the threat's body maximizing the amount of toxin administered, which also helps protect the queen.