A new study has found that bumblebees can solve puzzles by watching their peers. "These creatures are really quite incredible. They're really, really good at learning despite having these tiny, tiny brains," said Alice Bridges, a behavioral ecologist at Anglia Ruskin University.
In order to test this, researchers set up a box puzzle that could be solved via two methods and trained "demonstrator" bees to solve the puzzle in different ways, BBC reports. Designated "observer" bees then watched the "demonstrator" bees solve the puzzle. The results showed that, 98 percent of the time, the "observer" bee solved the puzzle using the same method as the bee it watched, even if the observer had discovered the second method. Bees that followed a demonstrator were also able to solve more puzzles than those that didn't.
Scientists have also posited that bees may have a culture like humans, with learned behaviors passed around in the bee colony, NPR writes. "In our experiments, we saw the spread and maintenance of a behavioral 'trend' in groups of bumblebees — similar to what has been seen in primates and birds," said Bridges. If that knowledge among animals lasts, "we might be prepared to call it a tradition," explained Andy Whiten, a cognitive ethologist at the University of St. Andrews. "And culture is made up of multiple traditions."
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
"All we have discovered about animal culture means that human culture, once thought unique," remarked Whiten, "did not emerge 'out of the blue' but has obviously built on deep evolutionary foundations."
-
Should you add your child to your credit card?The Explainer You can make them an authorized user on your account in order to help them build credit
-
Cracker Barrel crackup: How the culture wars are upending corporate brandingIn the Spotlight Is it 'woke' to leave nostalgia behind?
-
'It's hard to discern what it actually means'Instant Opinion Opinion, comment and editorials of the day
-
A rat infestation is spelling trouble for the almond industryThe Explainer The infestation has affected at least 100,000 acres in California
-
Rabbits with 'horns' sighted across Coloradospeed read These creatures are infected with the 'mostly harmless' Shope papilloma virus
-
Lithium shows promise in Alzheimer's studySpeed Read Potential new treatments could use small amounts of the common metal
-
Scientists discover cause of massive sea star die-offSpeed Read A bacteria related to cholera has been found responsible for the deaths of more than 5 billion sea stars
-
'Thriving' ecosystem found 30,000 feet underseaSpeed Read Researchers discovered communities of creatures living in frigid, pitch-black waters under high pressure
-
What would happen to Earth if humans went extinct?The Explainer Human extinction could potentially give rise to new species and climates
-
Bad news, alpha males. You likely don't actually exist.Under the radar Most primate communities are egalitarian
-
Scientists and Peter Jackson attempt to bring back an extinct bird — kind ofIn the Spotlight Colossal Biosciences was the company behind the 'resurrected' dire wolves
