----- Original Message -----
From: "Steve A" <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 25, 2001 4:17 PM
Subject: Bee Sting Evolution


> I'm looking for information on the evolution of honey bee's and their
> stings.
>
> Primarily when did this evolve?
The first honey bees appeared around 35 million years ago.
>
> Did stinged solitary bees become social? Or did stingless social bees
evolve
> stings?
All bees have stings, although in some groups, such as the Meliponini, the
sting is vestigial. Social bees evolved from solitary ancestors.
>
> Are there many solitary stinging bees?
There are an estimated 20,000 species of bees, most of which are solitary.
>
> Are there many stingless social bees?
There are hundreds of species of "stingless" bees in some 21 genera (Apinae:
Meliponini)
>
> Which evolved from which (according to the fossil record)?
The sting of bees and other stinging Hymenoptera evolved from the ovipositor
(egg tube) of parasitic ancestors.

See the following:
Starr, C.K. 1985. Enabling mechanisms in the origin of sociality in the
Hymenoptera--the sting's the thing. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 78(6): 836-840.
Kukuk, P.F. et al. 1989. Importance of the sting in the evolution of
sociality in the Hymenoptera. Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am. 82(1): 1-5.
>
>
> I'm interested in using the data in research into group vs individual
> selection in the units of selection aspect of Darwinian theory.


Tom Culliney, Hawaii Dept. of Agriculture, Division of Plant Industry, 1428
South King St., Honolulu, HI 96814 U.S.A.
E-mail: [log in to unmask]
Telephone: 808-973-9528
Fax: 808-973-9533

"To a rough approximation and setting aside vertebrate chauvinism, it can be
said that essentially all organisms are insects."--R.M. May (1988)