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Stinger, Bee

Animals with stings include bees, wasps, hornets, and scorpions - although the scorpion's sting is not homologous to that of the other three, but is rather an example of convergent evolution.

The sting has its own ganglion and it continues to saw into the target's flesh and release venom for several minutes. The question of how such a trait could have evolved, when it is of such an obvious disadvantage to the individual, is resolved when one realizes that mammalian predators can easily destroy the entire colony if not repelled; if the colony is destroyed, a worker, being sterile, will die without offspring, so only through defense of the colony can she see to it that her genes are passed on. The barbs ensure that a honey bee's attack is only suicidal if the attacker is a mammal; they can sting other bees (in inter-colony raids) repeatedly. Thus, under natural conditions, the suicidal aspect of the honey bee sting's barbs only come into play in the event of an attack which threatens to wipe out the entire colony. The sting of nearly all other bees and wasps is not barbed, and so can be used to sting mammals repeatedly; the only exceptions (yellowjacket wasps and the Mexican honey wasp) have barbs so small that they do not cause the sting apparatus to pull free, so they may sting more than once.

Source: Wikipedia > Stinger