A thought on Regan

     While reading through Tom Regan's work, I came to a question about his Moral Agency and Moral Patients (a and b). 
I was wondering if there were any examples of non-human animals that could be moral agents. 

Thinking about eusocial and pseudosociatal animals, particularly the honey bee. (not a mammal  as I think all these philosophers consider the mammals too heavily and disregard the arthropods that are social.) When looking at this social insect, they are able to communicate their surroundings, feelings, and remember many locations of flowers, and those who have wronged them. This made me think if they could be considered moral agents, especially int eh case of predation. When a predator (human) approaches the colony, the warriors swarm out and buzz around the antagonists menacingly  Through body language the attacker will usually realize that, "I should not go near as they mean me harm should I approach." Whether this is through OUR own memories and tales of bees stinging us, or through body language alone, I am unsure. The bee will intentionally sting the attacker if they ignore their warnings, aiming to inflict pain and tell them to "go away." This choice is not just "because it's the thing to do" as the bee will die after it's stinger is dislodged in the attacker's flesh. Therefore the bee will do everything in it's power to deter the attacker before it sacrifices itself for the good of the colony. I personally believe this is a fully conscious choice as the bee values it's life enough to try and ward off predators before stinging an attacker and killing itself, yet wishes to do the maximum harm to the attacker to "get the point across"(haha) so it's sacrifice will not be for nothing.

That's my thoughts on that question that I asked.