Can insects have culture? Puzzle-solving bumblebees show it's possible
Next time you're having trouble solving a tricky puzzle, consider asking a nearby bumblebee.
A new study in the journal PLOS Biology finds that these humble insects can actually learn to solve puzzles from one another, suggesting that even some invertebrates like these social insects have a capacity for what we humans call "culture."
"These creatures are really quite incredible. They're really, really good at learning despite having these tiny, tiny brains," says Alice Bridges, a behavioral ecologist at Anglia Ruskin University in England.
In the past couple of decades, has accumulated to show that animals like and show evidence of culture, "by which we, a cognitive ethologist who studies wild animal minds at the University of St Andrews in Scotland. This learning can range from navigating a migratory route to using a tool to access a particular food.
