LONDON, England (Reuters) — Using sweet treats and patient coaching, scientists in London have taught a group of bumblebees how to play football.
The study at Queen Mary University of London saw a number of bees trained to move a small yellow ball to a circled location in order to score a goal and get a sugary reward from scientists.
The sporting prowess shows a sophisticated level of learning, the scientists said, with previous studies of bee cognitive behavior limited to tasks the insects would face in the wild.
“Our study puts the final nail in the coffin of the idea that small brains constrain insects to have limited behavioral flexibility,” Project supervisor and co-author Professor Lars Chittka.
A second group of bees then picked up the game after watching and learning from the first group.
“The bees solved the task in a different way than what was demonstrated, suggesting that observer bees did not simply copy what they saw, but improved on it,” joint lead author Dr Olli J. Loukola said.
“This shows an impressive amount of cognitive flexibility, especially for an insect.”
The study, published in the journal Science, suggests small brains don’t necessarily limit an insect’s ability to adapt and learn. It shows some insects could learn entirely new behaviours if there is sufficient ecological pressure.
