Bumblebees show cognitive flexibility by improving on an observed complex behavior

We explored bees’ behavioral flexibility in a task that required transporting a small ball to a defined location to gain a reward. Bees were pretrained to know the correct location of the ball. Subsequently, to obtain a reward, bees had to move a displaced ball to the defined location. Bees that obs...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Science (American Association for the Advancement of Science) 2017-02, Vol.355 (6327), p.833-836
Main Authors: Loukola, Olli J., Perry, Clint J., Coscos, Louie, Chittka, Lars
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Bees
Bees - physiology
Behavior, Animal
Birds
Bombus
Bumblebees
Cognition
Cognitive ability
Complexity
Copying
Ecology
Flexibility
Invertebrates
Learning
Learning behavior
Marine mammals
Object recognition
Primates
Reproduction
Reward
Social Behavior
Tasks
Tool use
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Summary:We explored bees’ behavioral flexibility in a task that required transporting a small ball to a defined location to gain a reward. Bees were pretrained to know the correct location of the ball. Subsequently, to obtain a reward, bees had to move a displaced ball to the defined location. Bees that observed demonstration of the technique from a live or model demonstrator learned the task more efficiently than did bees observing a “ghost” demonstration (ball moved via magnet) or without demonstration. Instead of copying demonstrators moving balls over long distances, observers solved the task more efficiently, using the ball positioned closest to the target, even if it was of a different color than the one previously observed. Such unprecedented cognitive flexibility hints that entirely novel behaviors could emerge relatively swiftly in species whose lifestyle demands advanced learning abilities, should relevant ecological pressures arise.
ISSN:0036-8075
1095-9203
DOI:10.1126/science.aag2360