Young bees roll balls more often than adults, and males roll them longer than females.
Scientists from the UK have proven that insects, like people, love to play. Moreover, they do it without any incentive. The New Atlas writes about it.
“The latest round of experiments was designed to test this idea, with groups of bumblebees placed in the arena where they had free access to the feeding chamber and access to the area with the wooden balls. And the balls started rolling. ball and individual bees interacted with them from one to 117 times, which indicated that they received some kind of reward for their behavior,” the experts said.
The bees were also given access to a pair of colored chambers, one containing marbles and the other completely empty. The balls were then removed, but the bees gravitated to the former playing arena, preferring the room where they spent time with the wooden balls. It was found that young bees rolled balls more often than adults, and males rolled them longer than females.
Overall, the scientists report that ball rolling meets behavioral criteria for play in a manner similar to that documented in other animal species, and believe the results represent the first evidence of insect play behavior.
“Of course, it is incredible and sometimes funny to watch bumblebees show something like a game. They repeatedly approach and manipulate these “toys”. This again shows that, in despite their small size and small brain, they are little more than small robotic creatures. They can actually experience some kind of positive emotional states, even if they are incomplete, like other more large furry animals or not so furry animals Such a discovery has implications for our understanding of the mind and welfare of insects and will hopefully inspire us to better respect and protect life on Earth,” said Samadi Galpayage, the first author of the study.
It will be remembered that the photographer showed the “face” of the ant up close. Like a horror frame.
Insects can generate electricity – scientists
News from Correspondent.net on Telegram. Subscribe to our channel Athletistic
Source: korrespondent
