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It's easy to view insects as basic creatures governed solely by instinct. While they may be simpler than vertebrates in many aspects, we’re discovering that they share numerous traits with us that we hadn’t anticipated. You might be familiar with the fact that ants engage in farming or that bees communicate through dance. However, there are even more surprising similarities between these tiny invertebrates, which make up as much as 90 percent of multicellular life on Earth, and us.
10. Hitching a Ride
Using another animal as transportation is something humans have mastered for a long time. This practice, known as phoresy, is rare but not unique to us. A fascinating example is the springtail that was found riding a mayfly, a behavior preserved in a 16-million-year-old amber specimen.
The tiny springtail had used its antennae to latch onto the base of the mayfly's wings during its journey. Unfortunately for both, the mayfly chose a poor resting place and ended up trapped in amber. The springtail may have attempted to escape at the last moment—it was only 50 micrometers (a 500th of an inch) from its ride—but it was too late. Scientists believe this behavior likely still occurs, though it’s extremely difficult to witness.
9. Prioritizing Based on Experience
When searching for a new home, humans typically consider factors like size, location, or the odd assortment of skulls in the basement. However, certain aspects take precedence depending on our past experiences. For example, if you’ve lived in cramped quarters with seven roommates, you’ll probably prioritize a home with multiple bedrooms over one with excellent public transportation access.
This ability to weigh pros and cons based on past experiences has also been observed in ants. When selecting a new home, the species Temnothorax rugatulus prefers a small entrance and minimal light. If they are exposed to environments where all nest entrances are the same size but light levels vary, they will consistently choose the darkest one.
When provided with a range of sites featuring varying entrance sizes and light levels, ants continue to prioritize light levels. However, when placed in the opposite situation, they still favor a smaller entry hole. The scientists conducting the experiment were left with one lingering question. As study author Stephen Pratt noted, "You have hundreds of these ants, and somehow they have to reach a consensus. How do they do it without anyone in charge to tell them what to do?" This is a question he hopes to explore further in future research.
8. Dragonflies Exhibit Selective Attention
Human brains are amazing—especially those of Mytour readers. That being said, there’s a limit to how much information we can process at once. We have a finite amount of attention, so we must either concentrate fully on one task or spread our focus across multiple things. Our brains are capable of filtering out unnecessary information, a trait previously believed to be unique to primates—but now also seen in dragonflies.
Researchers implanted sensors into a dragonfly's brain (the sensors were 1,500 times thinner than a human hair) to track its activity while hunting. When multiple targets were present, the dragonfly's brain chose one and ignored the others. This selective focus allows the dragonfly to hit its mark 97 percent of the time. Since dragonflies often hunt in groups, this trait proves highly beneficial. This groundbreaking discovery not only enhances our understanding of neuroscience but could also contribute to the development of vision systems for intelligent robots.
7. Bees Can Grasp Abstract Concepts and Perform Mathematics
Bees and humans both share an enjoyment for outdoor meals, though bees aren’t typically the ones packing the sandwiches. Beyond this common interest in dining al fresco, bees also demonstrate the remarkable ability for abstract thought. In a study, scientists created two landing spots for the bees—one offering a drop of sugar water (delicious) and the other, quinine (bitter). These were placed on a wall with two distinct images, positioned either on opposite sides of a landing spot or one above and one below.
After several attempts, the bees managed to consistently identify the landing spot with the sugar water, demonstrating their ability to understand the importance of relative position. Even when the images were switched, the bees continued to select the correct option, reinforcing their grasp of the concept.
In addition to abstract thinking, bees can solve the challenging mathematical problem of finding the shortest path between several flowers, a task known as the Travelling Salesman Problem. This problem often requires supercomputers to solve over hours or days. The ability of bees to perform such a task with their small brains could provide valuable insights into enhancing artificial intelligence.
6. Chivalry in Crickets
Studies on wild crickets have shown that when a male and female are together, the male exhibits chivalrous behavior. Researchers observed that when predators approached, the male would wait for the female to enter a burrow before he followed, even though this increased his risk of being caught. This act of selflessness, however, ensured the female’s safety.
There is, of course, a reason behind this sacrifice. In the process of reproduction, the male crickets deposit a small package called a spermatophore into the female, which continuously releases sperm. However, females can remove it if they choose. Females that benefit from the male’s chivalrous actions tend to leave the spermatophore in place longer, unlike those who don’t receive such treatment. This new insight into cricket behavior presents a more gentlemanly image of males compared to earlier studies, which believed that males used coercion to keep the female from removing the spermatophore.
5. Bees Get Stressed
When we're stressed, it's easy to assume the worst about the future. People are more likely to have an optimistic outlook when they’re happy, although it’s hard to tell how their perspective will change after they’ve finished the glass. It turns out, scientists have observed the same behavior in bees.
In an experiment, a large group of bees were presented with two liquids, one containing sugar and the other quinine. Each liquid had a unique scent. The sugar solution was infused with a mix of hexanol and octanone, which the bees recognized. The quinine solution, however, had the opposite balance of these scents.
After the bees learned to prefer the mixture with more octanone, scientists subjected half of them to a shaking machine, mimicking the disturbance of a badger attack on a hive. The bees were then exposed to various mixtures of the two scents, hexanol and octanone, in different proportions.
The bees continued to choose the mixtures with more octanone, just as expected. However, when presented with a 50/50 mixture of both, the shaken bees were more reluctant to sample it. Though they recognized the potential for sugar, their uncertainty made them hesitate. This cautious behavior hints at a level of emotional response in bees that we might not have previously imagined.
4. Bees Respond Similarly to Cocaine
It’s not just stress that reveals unexpected similarities between bees and humans. Researchers from Macquarie University in Sydney decided to introduce cocaine to a group of bees to observe the results (though we can’t be sure if this was an actual study or just a faculty gathering that went awry). They compared the dance behavior of these bees to their sober counterparts and found that the drug had an effect remarkably similar to its impact on humans.
The bees on cocaine danced more frequently and energetically after returning from their foraging trips. Some bees were treated with the drug for a week before being taken off it. When they were subjected to a learning test, they performed poorly, indicating possible addiction and withdrawal symptoms. Investigating the neural and genetic changes in these bees may assist researchers in finding ways to treat cocaine addiction in humans.
3. Ants Have Educators
Animals are known to mimic each other to learn proper behavior. However, teaching goes beyond mere imitation. In the animal kingdom, teaching is defined as an individual intentionally investing time or energy to help another learn something new. British scientists observed this phenomenon in ants, marking the first time formal teaching has been witnessed in non-human animals.
The behavior under observation is called tandem running, where one ant guides another to a food source. The teacher leads the way, but the student occasionally pauses to reorient itself. The teacher waits patiently for the follower to signal readiness to continue by tapping the lead ant. Although this slows the teacher down, making the journey four times longer, it significantly speeds up the learning process for the pupil.
2. Cockroaches Clean Themselves
The mere mention of cockroaches often evokes disgust. In popular culture, they are commonly associated with poverty, and they are notoriously tough to eradicate. It’s hard to imagine being less popular than both spiders and rats, yet these foul, dirty, disease-spreading creatures manage to achieve that. However, despite their negative reputation, cockroaches do make an effort to clean themselves, or at least their antennae.
Cockroaches use their forelegs to pull their antennae into their mouths to clean off debris. Researchers at North Carolina State University prevented a group of roaches from doing this and discovered that it resulted in a buildup of waxy secretions. As expected, this impairment negatively affected their ability to detect pheromones and other scents. It turns out that both humans and cockroaches clean themselves to improve their scent, though in vastly different ways.
1. Crickets Learn to Show Off
The idea that 'crickets are gentlemen' ties into the old-fashioned concept of resolving conflicts through a duel. Crickets are known for their aggressive nature, making cricket fighting a popular sport in China. The sport is exactly what it sounds like—people keep crickets as pets and then have them fight against each other. Some champion crickets can sell for over $1,500, and wagers exceeding $150,000 can be placed on a single match.
Although dozens of eager onlookers gathering around with bated breath don’t seem to affect the crickets, they do enjoy putting on a show when they know they’re being watched by other crickets. Scientists discovered that crickets fought more fiercely when they were aware that their fellow species—whether male or female—were observing them. They also performed a more spirited victory dance afterwards.
The motivations behind these displays are similar to what we might expect from human men in a fight. Female crickets tend to prefer the stronger, dominant males, which improves their chances of mating. It also signals to other males that they shouldn’t be challenged. This behavior was more evident in wild crickets, indicating that aggression is partly a learned social trait. The researchers were particularly surprised by the crickets' ability to adapt and retain memories of their encounters.
