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misleading biology words and phrases

There are some misleading words and phrases in biology that stick around despite leading to misunderstandings.

- "alpha wolves"

The phrase "alpha wolf" suggests that wolves naturally form hierarchies where the males constantly fight each other to be the most domineering.

This is not how wolf packs actually form in the wild. The study that created the phrase "alpha wolf" was only based on the behavior of captive wolves that were strangers to each other, rather than how wolves behave on their own. Instead, the leader wolves are on top simply because they are the parents of the pack who want to care for their children.

The person who invented the phrase "alpha wolf" ended up figuring out his mistake and then spent the rest of his career disproving the concept and trying to convince people to stop using it. Unfortunately he wasn't able to get through to a lot of people because the notion of strict hierarchies with viscious competition is useful for people that like capitalism, patriarchy, and reactionary politics more generally.

- "queen" bee / ant"

The phrase "queen bee" or "queen ant" suggests that the queen is the colony's ruler and main decision maker and that the other members of the colony are subordinates who obey, just like human kings and queens.

For bees, ants, and other eusocial insects, the "queen" is not actually a ruler or a decision maker. The "queen" of a hive or colony is simply how the colony reproduces. Instead of having an actual chain of command, the worker insects in a colony make decisions directly with each other. Sometimes they do it by leaving behind pheromones, sometimes other ways.

The reason the phrase "queen" spread is that it was useful to people who want to justify monarchy in humans. Unfortunately the phrase has been around for so long that it is difficult to change even though it causes misunderstandings.

notes:

There are at least a few faulty phrases in biology that spread misunderstandings about nature for the only purpose of making it harder to question abusive, violent human anti-societies. It makes me wonder if there are others misleading concepts in biology that have a similar purpose. If I learn about more, I will put them here.

some info:

- wolves:

an educational site about wolves

- bees and other eusocial insects:

specifically the "Trends in the Research of Eusocial Behavior" section