Editor’s note: This is the third and hopefully the last installment in an unexpectedly three-part series on animals and the myriad everyday uses we as humans can dream up for them.

Shortly after the publication of my last column, a thoughtful essay on the practicality of the Dawson’s bee of the Australian outback, I received this plaintive e-mail from my brother-in-law Bob in Maryland:

“I was getting excited reading your column, feeling the sense of anticipation and then … not one single reference to the Dawson bee’s penis, a stinging let down after all that buzz.” Continue reading »