I have heard that girl bees rule over all the boys in the hive!?
Question by Country Girl: I have heard that girl bees rule over all the boys in the hive!?
Are there any other species where the girls are the bosses?
What do you think? Answer below!
10 Responses to I have heard that girl bees rule over all the boys in the hive!?
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In most of the arthropod world, females are much larger and rulers of social organizations (when there is one).
In fact, all bees, ants, or wasps you see around are female, and the males, called “drones”, act as subjects to the queen. All of the worker and soldier ants are female, and are sterile, which means that the queen is the mother of all the bees/ants in the colony.
In the case of spiders, females are always significantly bigger than males. Sometimes it is as great of a difference as the male being 1/5th the size of the female. When one gender of a species is significantly different than the other, it’s called sexual dimorphism. Other examples of this are cows and bulls, peacocks and peahens, roosters and hens, and so on.
Todd
September 23, 2013 at 5:15 pm
Well, I do know of ants who has a queen as well. the females are the most workers.
Erné R
September 23, 2013 at 6:15 pm
yes. ants
mythili m
September 23, 2013 at 6:32 pm
its because they have a pot of honey for bees to eat
j
September 23, 2013 at 6:40 pm
That’s because there are no male bees in the hive. They are all females and all sisters who take care of their sister the queen who keeps producing more females. the only male bees are drones who fly out of the hive to mate with a potential female queen. Once the queen is fertilized, they die and the queen finds a nice new place to hive.
This is true for ants as well.
My favorite species where girls are bosses are Bonobos or the Pygmy Chimpanzee. A patriarchal (actually patrilocal) society where females clearly rule.
tiger b
September 23, 2013 at 6:42 pm
i tink the ants
sur13
September 23, 2013 at 7:25 pm
Most social insects, such as ants, bees and wasps live in colonies where females preform the majority of the work and males are only used for breeding.
The closest mammal equivalent to social insects is the naked mole rat. These creatures live underground in colonies with a single breeding female and several male drones. The rest of the colony are workers, but they can be either sex. The reproductive members inhibit sexual behaviour in the workers through special hormones and phermones.
Elephants are a good example of an animal which lives in a society dominated by females. The herd consists of cows of various ages and their young calves. Female calves stay with the herd all their lives and males become solitary when they reach sexual maturity. Old bull elephants only are allowed to approach the herd when a cow comes into heat.
The most extreme example of a mammal living in a group dominated by females is the hynea. Females are larger than males and the highest ranking male is still lower in status than the lowest ranking female. The clan is led by the most dominant female. Hyneas have even modified their anatomy to express female dominance. The female’s clitoris is elongated into a penis shape and this serves to advertise her dominance over any male in the clan.
Birds tend to form monogomous pairs when breeding, and many mate for life. Some have a harem system, and in one species of aquatic rail, the female keeps a harem of smaller males. The males build nests to attract the resident female and after the eggs are laid, each male raises his own clutch of chicks. This leaves the female free to defend the territory from rival females and attract more males. This mating system is known as “polyandry”.
One human society uses a similar arrangement. A northern Indian tribe of the warrior caste practices a marriage arrangement in which a man and all his brothers wed the same bride simutaneously. This system supposedly was arranged to ensure the woman still has a husband if one or more of her male harem is killed in battle.
Roger S
September 23, 2013 at 8:23 pm
Spiters, after the female mates wiht the male, they kill the males and once the females have the babies,the babies kill the mother.
Another Chocolate Beauty
September 23, 2013 at 8:44 pm
Black Widows eat the male after they mate … I would say that makes them ruler.
RayCATNG
September 23, 2013 at 8:51 pm
the girls rule. The big girl is the queen and she has a stinger and everyone takes care of her. The other girls are workers and they have stingers. Drones are the males and they have no stingers so they are not about to argue with any of the girls.
JayBug
September 23, 2013 at 9:48 pm