Full-Frame Great Banded Furrow Bee

[Orsonneke]

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[Dean Wilson]

When I read "Furrow" and "Bee" I think of our local predatory aggressive wasp: the Yellowjacket. They will attack and their stinger is pointed and not barbed, so they can sting multiple times without losing their stinger.

 

[Grumps]

When I read "Furrow" and "Bee" I think of our local predatory aggressive wasp: the Yellowjacket. They will attack and their stinger is pointed and not barbed, so they can sting multiple times without losing their stinger.

In a partial defence of wasps (and, more generally, hymenopera). Or a bit of a 'what if'.

Are stings modified ovipositors?

Or.

Are ovipositors modified stings?

(As far as I know, it is 'female' thing. Male bees & wasps have never developed ovipositors or stings. When it comes to social bees and wasps, the male gets one opportunity and his family jewels get ripped off/out as part of mating. I am happy to be corrected if wrong.)

 

[Dean Wilson]

In a partial defence of wasps (and, more generally, hymenopera). Or a bit of a 'what if'.

Are stings modified ovipositors?

Or.

Are ovipositors modified stings?

(As far as I know, it is 'female' thing. Male bees & wasps have never developed ovipositors or stings. When it comes to social bees and wasps, the male gets one opportunity and his family jewels get ripped off/out as part of mating. I am happy to be corrected if wrong.)

Stingers are modified ovipositors, not the other way around, as the ancestral and primary organ is the ovipositor, a tube-like structure used by female insects to deposit eggs. In a specific group of insects (ants, bees, and stinging wasps), the egg-laying organ evolved into a defensive weapon and venom-delivery system.

 

[SwampGrizz]

All I know is they hurt like hell. As someone who has spent a big portion of my career in the woods, I can tell you that there is nothing like a wasp/yellowjacket/hornet sting. I am far more terrified of those insects than I am of a snake. I figure the snake is just doing his job, and I’ll do mine. He will go his way, and I’ll go mine. Not so with the insects, particularly the yellowjacket. They have the attitude that one of us is going to wind up dead. It’s not just the amazing pain of the sting, it’s the sheer terror of knowing that you’re probably standing on their nest, and they are pissed. You know what’s coming next, and you literally go berserk trying to get away. You can hurt yourself trying to get away, and you’re ruined for the rest of the day. A fly lands on you and you go berserk all over again. My brother in law saw me get stung one time, and he said that he had never seen a fat man move that fast.