Very clever bees use tools
One
hallmark of cognitive complexity is the ability to manipulate objects
with a specific goal in mind. Such “tool use” at one time was ascribed
to humans alone, but then to primates, next to marine mammals, and later
to birds. Now we recognize that many species have the capacity to
envision how a particular object might be used to achieve an end.
Loukola et al. extend this insight to invertebrates. Bumblebees
were trained to see that a ball could be used to produce a reward.
These bees then spontaneously rolled the ball when given the chance.
Science, this issue p. 833
Abstract
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.
