Bumblebees have a surprising form of collective intelligence that was thought to be unique to humans

Researchers have recently shown that beetles have a surprising form of collective intelligence previously thought to be unique to humans. During laboratory experiments, beetles have shown themselves capable of adopting highly complex behaviors that exceed their individual capacity for innovation and that only social learning can transmit. This suggests an advanced social learning ability that we were previously unaware of.

In humans, almost all behavior is based on knowledge that requires refinement over many generations. Our current knowledge is in some ways based on collective knowledge accumulated over centuries, called “accumulated culture”. For example, not all components of a computer or smartphone were invented by one person. Instead, many generations of inventors and scientists worked collectively to get to where we are today.

It has been suggested that cumulative culture requires higher-order forms of social learning (such as imitation and learning or the transmission of skills), previously thought to be unique to humans. However, studies have recently found evidence suggesting the presence of a form of cumulative culture in some animals. Indeed, the concept of cumulative culture suggests that beneficial change (or innovation) in relation to a given behavior must be socially transmitted.

For example, this type of behavior has been observed in homing pigeons. Indeed, researchers have previously shown that when pairs of homing pigeons have to take a flight home from different destinations, they find the most efficient routes more quickly when one member of the pair is regularly swapped. This means that birds traveling in pairs or solo are always less quick to find optimal routes. This suggests the presence of beneficial “innovations” brought by new members and transmitted to other birds.

However, it is so far unclear whether these innovations are transmitted to animals through a form of cumulative cultivation, or whether they can be acquired individually. Indeed, “this threshold, which often includes the condition that renewal is impossible during a person’s lifetime, is considered by some to be the fundamental difference between human and non-human cognition,” explained researchers from Queen Mary University of London and the University of London. In their new study on the subject from Sheffield (in England), published in the journal Nature.

On the other hand, research on higher-order forms of cognition in animals has mostly been conducted on primates—due to their brain size and genetic proximity to humans. As part of their work, English researchers explored the question in beetles, due to their advanced social behaviors.

A form of cumulative culture?

Other experiments have previously shown that bees (the same family as beetles, Apidae) can acquire complex and unnatural behaviors through social learning. For example, they are able to solve puzzles by learning from each other, to get food. They can also improve early performer behavior (puzzle-solving techniques), suggesting more advanced cognitive abilities than previously thought.

However, previous research has typically involved behaviors that bees can acquire individually. That is, innovative behaviors are not necessarily transmitted through some form of this accumulated culture. To determine whether the eyebrows (Bombus terrestris) are able to achieve this type of behavior, the researchers in the new study developed a two-step puzzle system.

This is a design inspired by a puzzle box previously tested on Goffin’s cockatoos (Cockatoa goffiniana) to assess their ability to solve problems. The birds were challenged to open a sealed box with 5 interlocking locks, which could only be opened in a certain order. Awards were given only after opening the last lock.

” Our hypothesis is that this degree of temporal and spatial separation between the execution of the first step of the behavior and the reward would make it very difficult, if not impossible, for the beetle. (without previous training) This creates a lasting connection between the initial action and the final reward », explain the researchers. In the picture below, Brow can reach the reward (yellow circle) by pushing the red tab, but only after pushing the blue one.

In other words, the task imposed on the eyebrows was almost impossible to perceive individually. So, the researchers first taught “performers” how to solve the puzzle, offering them a reward (a sweet solution) after the first step, to keep them motivated. After this training phase, the demonstrator was presented in the puzzle box with another naïve eyebrow. It was found that the demonstrators “taught” the other beetles to open the box in two steps and get the reward.

These results suggest that bumblebees can acquire highly complex social behaviors, beyond their individual capacity for innovation. Additionally, the colony was unable to open the puzzle box in the absence of “qualified” demonstrators. ” This finding challenges a common view in the field: that the ability to socially learn behavior that cannot be innovated through individual trial and error is unique to humans. », the team concluded.

Source: Nature