First study to show bumblebees play

Oct. 28 () –

For the first time, scientists at Queen Mary University of London describe in Animal Behavior magazine object play behavior in an insect, specifically a bumblebee.

The team of researchers conducted numerous experiments to test their hypothesis, which showed that bumblebees they endeavored to roll wooden balls repeatedly even though there was no apparent incentive to do so.

The study also found that younger bees rolled more balls than older bees, reflecting human behavior with young children and other juvenile mammals and birds being the most playful. and that male bees rolled them for longer than their female counterparts.

The study followed 45 bumblebees in a small enclosure and gave them the option of moving along an unobstructed path to reach a feeding area or deviating from this path to areas with wooden balls. Individual bees rolled balls between 1 and, amazingly, 117 times during the experiment. The repeated behavior suggested that rolling the ball was rewarding.

This was supported by a further experiment in which 42 other bees had access to two color chambers, one always containing moving balls and one without any objects. When tested and given a choice between the two chambers, neither of which contained balls, the bees showed a preference for the color of the chamber previously associated with the wooden balls.

The setup of the experiments eliminated any notion that the bees were moving the balls for a larger purpose than play. Rolling the balls did not contribute to survival strategies, such as obtaining food, cleaning up mess, or mating, and was performed under stress-free conditions.

The research builds on earlier experiments from the same lab on Queen Mary, which showed bumblebees can be taught to score a goal, by rolling a ball towards a target, in exchange for a sugary food reward. During the experiment above, the team observed bumblebees rolling balls out of the experiment, without getting any food reward.

The new research showed that the bees repeatedly rolled balls without having been trained and without receiving any food for doing so, it was voluntary and spontaneous, therefore, it was similar to play behavior seen in other animals.

The first author of the study, Samadi Galpayage, a doctoral student at Queen Mary University of London says it’s a statement that “it is certainly mind-boggling, sometimes amusing, to see the bumblebees display something resembling play. They approach and handle these ‘toys’ over and over again. This shows, once again, that despite their small size and tiny brains, they are more than little robotic beings.

“Actually, they may experience some sort of positive emotional state, even if it’s rudimentary, as other larger, fluffy or not-so-fluffy animals do. This kind of finding has implications for our understanding of insect sensitivity and welfare and hopefully encourage us to increasingly respect and protect life on Earth.”

Professor Lars Chittka, Professor of Sensory and Behavioral Ecology at Queen Mary University of London, director of the laboratory and author of the recent book The Mind of a Bee, says: “This research provides a strong indication that insect minds are much more sophisticated than we could imagine. There are many animals that play just for fun, but most examples come from young mammals and birds.”

“We are producing ever-increasing amounts of evidence supporting the need to do everything we can to protect insects a million miles away from the mindless, unfeeling creatures they are traditionally believed to be.”