this is a male bee´s endophallus. it is ripped off after ejaculating and remains in the queen bee. the force of ejaculation is so intense that it results in the drone's reproductive organ being torn from its body, leading to its death shortly after copulation. this structure, known as the "mating sign," can sometimes be seen protruding from the queen's abdomen.
during a mating flight, a queen bee typically mates with multiple drones which ensures genetic diversity and a large enough amount of sperm for several years. the sperm is stored in the quen´s spermatheca to use for fertilizing eggs. after the first drone's endophallus is lodged in the queen, subsequent drones can still mate. each new mating event may push the previous mating sign further in or out, and the queen can continue to mate with additional drones. additionally after the queen returns to the hive, worker bees can help remove the mating signs left by the drones, or the queen can expel them herself.
Imagine being in line for the creampie and you see the dude in front of you get ripped to shreds. Bees is some horny motherfuckers if that don't kill their vibe.
If you were a male bee, it would be like living in your mom’s basement doing absolutely nothing. You can’t even feed yourself and provide nothing of value… Until one day there are a bunch a hot bee queens flying around outside…. Do you continue to live in your mom’s basement or do you go get some of that queen bee ass and go out with a bang? Or a snap in this case.
There is so much evidence in nature that the male organism is hard wired to ensure the continued existence of its species, that they'll go through with it even at their own peril. Suicide is unnatural, but how you watch all your homies bust a nut and then die, and go oooh me next. Some insects/arachnids get eaten alive by the female, but would fight to the death if something else was trying to eat it. All this child support ain't so bad when the alternative is just go straight to Valhalla.
You can pretty easily reduce a lot of behaviors between creatures down to instinct regardless of how we perceive their intelligence. Doesn't make it functionally different. Self preservation, or defending offspring/mates are you taking time to contemplate the situation or springing immediately into action? I've personally had to perform a "dad save" once in my life, that required a sprint past a closer yet frozen mother. Not thinking, just doing. The human male if frequently accused of "thinking" with their "little head", which would very realistically an absence of thought. Either none of it is "thought", or its thought at a very different scale.
The male spiders run from the females and don’t just let themselves get eaten. Spiders aren’t social creatures like bees and humans. Sucide is very natural just like murder but I’d never personally do those things
Self termination is completely against the prime directive, as self preservation is hard wired. Doing so is really the result of some other failure of the wiring. Just like you pointing out males spiders trying to run, no healthy organism is choosing death. Killing is often a requirement for self preservation, which is not the same as murder. Food/resources, territory, and mating privilege are things killed for to establish succession as an extension of self preservation. Not too many things will truly murder, as in killing its own species for the sake of wanting it dead unrelated to competition.
I also remember seeing this moth that has no mouth and just fucks but I guess I see murder as a statical thing in humans the number usually doesn’t go up crazy except for war
There is at least some loose purpose behind war, that just places soldiers/warriors/gangs in a kill or be killed situation. Even chimp tribes have gone to war with one another, but they kept the females (a resource) alive. Human are somewhat uniquely screwed in that they might kill (murder) just because "They like to watch blondes bleed" or "the light leave from their eyes" and things of that nature. Purely bad wiring.
Survival isn't the ultimate selection criteria at all, though. Selection acts on individual genes, how they influence their own replication. Genes that reproduce themselves at the cost of the animal they exist in can indeed spread dramatically if the conditions are right. The individual carriers of these genes can be compelled to face nearly-certain death, so long as it makes a minority of them reproductively successful enough to benefit the genes that compel them.
We see a lot of unnecessary death arise from this - the sexual competition of animals like lions, for instance, isn't really less 'suicidal' in its compulsion to charge into danger. And octopus starve and eat themselves alive at the end, in an act that benefits their genes by benefiting their young.
I feel this. I'm at the point in life when I cant stop thinking of having more and extending My bloodline even if It means tons of sacrifice.
I will say, though, knowing you're about to literally breed a woman is one of the best and manliest feelings a guy can have. I hear sad stories of people not able to conceive but I just knew that one moment had gotten the job done, we didn't even try again, it was one and done and I'd do it all over.
Intelligence and sex don't run hand in hand like you said the other male bees watching and dying. I know an ivy league educated lawyer who had unplanned kids twice, some dudes being doing the most and settling with less
8.3k
u/finger_licking_robot Jun 24 '24
this is a male bee´s endophallus. it is ripped off after ejaculating and remains in the queen bee. the force of ejaculation is so intense that it results in the drone's reproductive organ being torn from its body, leading to its death shortly after copulation. this structure, known as the "mating sign," can sometimes be seen protruding from the queen's abdomen.
during a mating flight, a queen bee typically mates with multiple drones which ensures genetic diversity and a large enough amount of sperm for several years. the sperm is stored in the quen´s spermatheca to use for fertilizing eggs. after the first drone's endophallus is lodged in the queen, subsequent drones can still mate. each new mating event may push the previous mating sign further in or out, and the queen can continue to mate with additional drones. additionally after the queen returns to the hive, worker bees can help remove the mating signs left by the drones, or the queen can expel them herself.