We were having lunch at our favourite cafe in the picture-postcard village of Sherston the other day. Hay had ordered pancakes with syrup, which attracted a couple of wasps.
Wasps have a smooth sting which can be used as a defence mechanism many times over with no ill effect. The bee, on the other hand, has a barbed sting which, when used, sticks in the skin of its victim, resulting in the bee disembowelling itself as it attempts to flee.
It's a strange to be possessed of a defence mechanism that, when used, kills the one who wields it. How did evolution work that logical inconsistency out?
There again, it might be down to the bee being prepared to lay down its life to protect the hive, which may be in danger. The good of the many outweighs the individual's needs. Strange, however, that the wasp didn't evolve to be as altruistic. There again, of the 7,000 species of wasps in the UK, only 9 build communal nests (and they last only a matter of months) and therefore there's nothing to protect. It's still a strange defence mechanism.
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