Got a big head there, Bobo
November 13, 2019 7:25 PM Subscribe
Can other animals (apes/bears/etc) be allergic to bee stings like humans?
Watching a documentary tonight showing chimps collecting honey got me thinking about allergies. Some of us humans get stung and it hurts but we'll be OK. While others have an allergic reaction and swell up and it's much worse. Does the same apply to the animal world?
Watching a documentary tonight showing chimps collecting honey got me thinking about allergies. Some of us humans get stung and it hurts but we'll be OK. While others have an allergic reaction and swell up and it's much worse. Does the same apply to the animal world?
This is a pretty universal phenomenon. It's not just bee stings. Any toxin or venom is pretty generally not just a single substance, but rather a soup of different fractions that each target different species groups. Black widow spider venom, for instance, only has one component that targets mammalian tissue (and other components that target crustacean, insect, etc. tissue).
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:39 PM on November 13, 2019
posted by late afternoon dreaming hotel at 9:39 PM on November 13, 2019
Not only bee stings, I knew a bobcat once that was allergic to fur that wasn’t his own. We had to skin all its fresh meat before we fed him.
Long story but the short version is he once caught and ate some mice that got loose in the building, we knew it was him because the poor guy was scratching up a storm all morning.
posted by lepus at 9:41 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Long story but the short version is he once caught and ate some mice that got loose in the building, we knew it was him because the poor guy was scratching up a storm all morning.
posted by lepus at 9:41 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
Best answer: My short answer: yes in theory but probably rarely in practice. Longer answer below.
When a bee stings, it releases about 0.1mg of a substance called apitoxin - this is an acidic brew containing several different proteins. Notable among these is melittin - the biggest component - which normally has an anti-inflammatory effect, causing the production of cortisol in the victim's body. Then we have phospholipase A2 - an enzyme which degrades cell membranes - probably the most destructive ingredient. There is dopamine and noradrenaline - which increase the pulse rate. There are various "alarm pheromones" that will attract other bees to come out and attach the victim. And finally there is histamine - which is involved in generating the standard level allergic response.
Although queen bees can sting, it is almost certainly a worker bee that will be the attacker. Famously they die from abdominal rupture after leaving a barbed sting in the victim. Humans are often advised to remove this - and thus mitigate the effect of the sting. Other animals don't have this option: so they may suffer rather more. A bee sting is painful for a few hours and there may be swelling for up to a week. This is all part of the standard allergic response. Honey eating animals have a lot more fur and thicker skin however. It is generally reckoned that bears taking honey are protected from most stings by these assets, for example. Even chimps have a lot more fur to protect them than we do.
About 2 percent of human victims go on to develop a sensitivity to been stings that can cause anaphylactic shock on subsequent exposure. We see anaphylaxis in other animals too: probably familiar to cat and dog owners - but also seen in other primates (often a reason why they have been used in clinical testing). What we don't know, is the percentage of victims developing anaphylaxis from bee stings in other animals - we just know that the same mechanism of acquired sensitivity to bee stings as a cause, should be possible.
posted by rongorongo at 10:51 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
When a bee stings, it releases about 0.1mg of a substance called apitoxin - this is an acidic brew containing several different proteins. Notable among these is melittin - the biggest component - which normally has an anti-inflammatory effect, causing the production of cortisol in the victim's body. Then we have phospholipase A2 - an enzyme which degrades cell membranes - probably the most destructive ingredient. There is dopamine and noradrenaline - which increase the pulse rate. There are various "alarm pheromones" that will attract other bees to come out and attach the victim. And finally there is histamine - which is involved in generating the standard level allergic response.
Although queen bees can sting, it is almost certainly a worker bee that will be the attacker. Famously they die from abdominal rupture after leaving a barbed sting in the victim. Humans are often advised to remove this - and thus mitigate the effect of the sting. Other animals don't have this option: so they may suffer rather more. A bee sting is painful for a few hours and there may be swelling for up to a week. This is all part of the standard allergic response. Honey eating animals have a lot more fur and thicker skin however. It is generally reckoned that bears taking honey are protected from most stings by these assets, for example. Even chimps have a lot more fur to protect them than we do.
About 2 percent of human victims go on to develop a sensitivity to been stings that can cause anaphylactic shock on subsequent exposure. We see anaphylaxis in other animals too: probably familiar to cat and dog owners - but also seen in other primates (often a reason why they have been used in clinical testing). What we don't know, is the percentage of victims developing anaphylaxis from bee stings in other animals - we just know that the same mechanism of acquired sensitivity to bee stings as a cause, should be possible.
posted by rongorongo at 10:51 PM on November 13, 2019 [1 favorite]
I was once dog sitting and the dog got stung by a bee he had tried to crunch. His face/lips blew up like a balloon. Simultaneously disturbing, alarming, and hilarious.
posted by dobbs at 6:16 AM on November 14, 2019
posted by dobbs at 6:16 AM on November 14, 2019
Imagine a cat who caught a bumblebee, then was walking around later with one big giant boxing glove of a paw and one teeny tiny regular sized paw up front. Like a fiddler crab, but cat. Sure seemed like a strong reaction to me. Was it 'alergic' ? Dunno I dropped out of vet school.
posted by some loser at 11:09 AM on November 14, 2019
posted by some loser at 11:09 AM on November 14, 2019
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posted by pompomtom at 7:47 PM on November 13, 2019