Insects join list of species capable of solving simple ‘box-and-banana’ problem that demonstrates basic intelligence

Bumblebees can use tools to solve a problem, according to experiments that demonstrate their remarkably advanced cognitive abilities.

The bees were given an adapted version of an experiment that, 100 years ago, first demonstrated chimpanzees could work out how to retrieve an out-of-reach banana by stacking boxes. Since then, various other primates, elephants and crows have joined an elite cohort of species known to be capable of this level of insight and spontaneous problem solving.

In the latest research, bees were shown to be able to roll a polystyrene ball to a specific location and climb on to it in order to access an artificial flower on a low ceiling. The findings challenge the longstanding assumption that insects operate purely on instinct and mindless trial-and-error learning.

“Most people think insects are reflex-based machines,” said Dr Olli Loukola, a behavioural ecologist at the University of Oulu, Finland, and senior author. “That they can’t have any emotional states or feel pain. Some people don’t even realise that they have brains. I hope that these results change the worldview about that.”

    • booscience@beehaw.org
      4·
      21 hours ago

      Yeah but it’s gotten better. When I was a kid in the 70s/80s almost everyone just locked their dogs outside in the back yard and didn’t consider them family like they do now. I mean, it was their dog, yes, like sorta family, but these days almost everyone literally considering their dogs actual family, and most probably think of them in terms of being akin to children and best friends. They used to be just property and tools to a lot of people. That applies to lots of animals now, people are getting more compassionate and evolved with their theory of mind in animals. Insects, reptiles and fish are starting to sneak into that evolution as well.

      • Powderhorn@beehaw.orgOPEnglish
        21·
        19 hours ago

        I had a wildly different experience growing up in the '80s, although anecdotally, it was socioeconomic. There were dogs who were pets and inside most of the time, and then there were guard dogs people tried to slap a veneer of love on.

        I hate the way the pendulum has swung all the way to “Pweshus needs to be in the produce aisle with Mommy.” And then dogs shit on the floor in grocery stores. I’d much rather have them in someone’s yard for 20 minutes than where I’m trying to buy fresh foods.

        The “furbaby” phenomenon is marketing and gaslighting at its finest. The only reason people have gotten to the point that they think it’s appropriate to take a dog everywhere is that the endless growth machine saw lowering birthrates and figured recasting pets as children would partially offset slowing revenue on the human baby end.

        Absolutely no one in the '80s thought it appropriate to bring a nonservice pet into a public place, and it’s not like people individually came up with the notion that this was now fine. But people don’t realize they’re being manipulated … it feels much better if you’re convinced that’s just who you are, and that’s all it takes.

        This is, of course, the way a lot of things have gone in the past 40 years, but I generally don’t run into other such issues at HEB.

        • SorryImLate@piefed.socialEnglish
          2·
          4 hours ago

          It’s illegal to take your dog into the grocery store in Switzerland and with good reason.

          That said, my dog goes most places with me. She can be home alone for a couple of hours but we live in an apartment (so no garden) and only have the one dog. They’re pack animals and I think it’s really cruel to leave a single dog alone for hours every day. When I was growing up we had a garden and always had at least 2 dogs, so the dogs weren’t left entirely alone if you left them at home.