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   PID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
   TID: hpt/lnx 1.9.0-cur 2019-01-08   
    Bumblebees learn new 'trends' in their behavior by watching and learning   
      
      
     Date:   
         March 7, 2023   
     Source:   
         Queen Mary University of London   
     Summary:   
         A new study has shown that bumblebees pick up new 'trends' in their   
         behavior by watching and learning from other bees, and that one   
         form of a behavior can spread rapidly through a colony even when   
         a different version gets discovered.   
      
      
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   FULL STORY   
   ==========================================================================   
   A new study has shown that bumblebees pick up new "trends" in their   
   behaviour by watching and learning from other bees, and that one form   
   of a behaviour can spread rapidly through a colony even when a different   
   version gets discovered.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   The research, led by Queen Mary University of London and published in   
   PLOS Biology, provides strong evidence that social learning drives the   
   spread of bumblebee behaviour -- in this case, precisely how they forage   
   for food.   
      
   A variety of experiments were set up to establish this. The researchers   
   designed a two-option puzzle box that could be opened either by pushing   
   a red tab clockwise or a blue tab counter-clockwise to reveal a 50 per   
   cent sucrose solution reward.   
      
   'Demonstrator' bees were trained to use either the red or blue tabs, with   
   'observer' bees watching. When it was the observers' turn to tackle the   
   puzzle, they overwhelmingly and repeatedly chose to use the same method   
   that they had seen, even after discovering the alternative option. This   
   preference for the taught option was maintained by whole colonies of bees,   
   with a mean of 98.6% of box openings made using the taught method.   
      
   The importance of social learning to the acquisition of puzzle box   
   solutions was also illustrated through the control group, which lacked   
   a demonstrator. In this group, some bees managed to open the puzzle   
   boxes, but did so far fewer times than those who benefitted from seeing   
   another bee do it first. The median number of boxes opened in a day by   
   the observer bees with a demonstrator was 28 boxes a day, whereas it   
   was only 1 for the control colony.   
      
   In an additional experiment, the researchers put both 'blue' and 'red'   
   demonstrators into the same populations of bees. In the first population,   
   97.3% of the 263 incidents of box-opening by observers by day 12 used   
   the red method.   
      
   In the second population, observers preferred the blue method over   
   the red on all days except one. In both cases, this demonstrated how   
   a behavioural trend might emerge in a population in the first place --   
   for the most part, due to experienced bees retiring from foraging and new   
   learners arising, rather than any bees changing their preferred behaviour.   
      
   Similar results from similar experiments have been used in species such   
   as primates and birds to suggest that they, like humans, are capable   
   of culture.   
      
   If bumblebees are capable of this, too, this could potentially explain   
   the evolutionary origin of many of the complex behaviours seen among   
   social insects. It might be possible that what now appears instinctive   
   could have been socially learnt, at least originally.   
      
   Dr Alice Bridges, the lead author from Queen Mary University of London,   
   said: "Bumblebees -- and, indeed, invertebrates in general -- aren't known   
   to show culture-like phenomena in the wild. However, in our experiments,   
   we saw the spread and maintenance of a behavioural "trend" in groups of   
   bumblebees - - similar to what has been seen in primates and birds. The   
   behavioural repertoires of social insects like these bumblebees are some   
   of the most intricate on the planet, yet most of this is still thought   
   to be instinctive.   
      
   Our research suggests that social learning may have had a greater   
   influence on the evolution of this behaviour than previously imagined."   
   Professor Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioural Ecology   
   at Queen Mary University of London and author of the book 'The Mind of   
   a Bee', said: "The fact that bees can watch and learn, and then make a   
   habit of that behaviour, adds to the ever-growing body of evidence that   
   they are far smarter creatures than a lot of people give them credit for.   
      
   "We tend to overlook the "alien civilisations" formed by bees, ants   
   and wasps on our planet -- because they are small-bodied and their   
   societies and architectural constructions seem governed by instinct   
   at first glance. Our research shows, however, that new innovations can   
   spread like social media memes through insect colonies, indicating that   
   they can respond to wholly new environmental challenges much faster than   
   by evolutionary changes, which would take many generations to manifest."   
       * RELATED_TOPICS   
             o Plants_&_Animals   
                   # Insects_(including_Butterflies) # Behavioral_Science #   
                   Animal_Learning_and_Intelligence # Mating_and_Breeding   
                   # Agriculture_and_Food # Beer_and_Wine # Animals #   
                   Ecology_Research   
       * RELATED_TERMS   
             o Characteristics_of_common_wasps_and_bees o Neuroscience o   
             Bee o Instinct o Beekeeping o Africanized_bee o Sociobiology   
             o Comparative_psychology   
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Story Source: Materials provided by Queen_Mary_University_of_London. Note:   
   Content may be edited for style and length.   
      
      
   ==========================================================================   
   Journal Reference:   
      1. Alice D. Bridges, HaDi MaBouDi, Olga Procenko, Charlotte Lockwood,   
      Yaseen   
         Mohammed, Amelia Kowalewska, Jose' Eric Romero Gonza'lez, Joseph L.   
      
         Woodgate, Lars Chittka. Bumblebees acquire alternative puzzle-box   
         solutions via social learning. PLOS Biology, 2023; 21 (3): e3002019   
         DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002019   
   ==========================================================================   
      
   Link to news story:   
   https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2023/03/230307144358.htm   
      
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