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Asked by kelarocks14 to Drew, Sara, Amy, Julia, Kimberley on 20 Jun 2011. This question was also asked by coleymurphy, chloe97xox, jmcd132, erin1598.
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Kimberley Bryon answered on 16 Jun 2011:
Stinging nettles are covered with tiny hairs which act as needles to deliver chemicals that cause the stinging sensation when you brush against them.
Bees sting as a last resort as bees rarely survive stinging as their sting rips off, the sting punctures your skin injecting a toxin in. Bees sting to protect their hives.
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Drew Rae answered on 16 Jun 2011:
An interesting question is why do some plants and animals use poison and venom to protect themselves, and some don’t?
If nettles can protect themselves, and bees can protect their genetic line, why don’t all plants and animals?
If you look closely, every animal or plant has a strategy to survive suited to the environment it is in, and you can think about what that strategy is, and how it works. For some plants the strategy is to get eaten, and to spread their seeds that way. For others, the strategy is not to get eaten.
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Julia Griffen answered on 19 Jun 2011:
Becuase it’s piercing our skin.. and our skin has alot of nerves init so we can feel things.
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Sara Imari Walker answered on 20 Jun 2011:
Hello everyone! Kimberley’s covered the “how” and I think Drew’s done quite a nice job with the “why”. Neetles and bees have unique adaptations that cause potential dangers like us to leave them alone. Ouch!! It’s pretty clever =)
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Amy MacQueen answered on 20 Jun 2011:
hey peeps!
To protect themselves from being eaten or (in the case of many bees) to protect other members of their colony since they die when they sting someone or something. A wee bee died on my windowsill on sunday…i don’t know what he’d stung but it was a bit sad. 🙁
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