Many animals are known to play – usually large-brained mammals (like humans) and birds. Now, scientists believe they have observed real play behavior in bees filmed rolling small colored wooden balls October newspaper published in the journal Animal Behavior.
“This research provides strong evidence that insect minds are far more sophisticated than we can imagine,” said co-author Lars Chittka from Queen Mary University of London and author of a recent book, The spirit of a bee. “There are many animals that play just for fun, but most examples come from young mammals and birds.”
Gaming behavior is typically divided into three broad categories, according to the authors. Social play involves playful interactions between animals, usually juveniles, playfully bickering. For example, there is anecdotal evidence from previous studies (a from the year 1820) for social play among ants and young wasps. Motion play involves running, jumping, or similar intense and sustained movements that are not associated with a specific purpose. And object play involves manipulating an object as a toy.
Chittka’s group led a previous study in 2017 in which they showed that bees could be trained to roll small wooden balls to receive a reward. But they also noted instances where the bees chose to roll the balls even when there was no obvious reward or benefit. The balls had been placed in a tunnel connecting the hive to the experimental arena where the food was kept. Several bees walked over the balls or stopped to roll them back and forth on their way from the food. Chittka et al. wondered if this could be genuine gaming behavior and decided to investigate further.
Designing an experiment to conclusively show that bees (or other insects or animals) are specifically involved in play behavior is not easy. It’s not like you can just ask the bees if they’re having fun. Five basic criteria must be met.
First, the behavior should not be performed to obtain food, attract a mate, or seek shelter. Second, gambling behavior should be “voluntary, spontaneous, and rewarding in and of itself” rather than associated with any type of reward. Third, the motor actions for play behavior should be distinct from the actions performed when foraging or attempting to mate. Fourth, gambling behavior is repeated, but not stereotyped, to distinguish between a one-off event and a habitual tic. Finally, play should be initiated when the subject is relaxed to distinguish it from stress-related behaviors such as walking or walking, both of which are commonly seen in caged zoo animals.
For these new experiments, Chittka et al. followed a similar setup. They placed 45 bees in the arena and let them choose whether to walk in a straight line to a feeding area with food or walk from that path through an area of colored wooden balls. Even when they finished feeding, most bees (37) chose to ball-roll for at least one additional day afterward, with 29 ball-rolling for two additional days after feeding. Individual bees rolled balls between 1 and 117 times over the duration of the experiment, with the latter figure suggesting that at least some of the bees found the activity rewarding.
In a second experiment to see if this qualified as a game, another 42 bees were given access to two color-coded chambers, one empty while the other always contained wooden balls. Then the balls were removed and the bees could choose which chamber to spend time in. They showed a strong preference for the chamber with a color previously associated with the wooden balls. A third experiment found that younger bees rolled balls more often than older bees, and male bees rolled balls longer than female bees.
Overall, the authors argue that the behavior of the bees in their experiments meets the five basic game criteria. “It’s certainly overwhelming, sometimes amusing, to watch bumblebees display something of a game.” said co-author Samadi Galpayage, a graduate student in Chittka’s lab. “They approach these ‘toys’ and manipulate them over and over again. This shows once again that despite their small size and tiny brain, they are more than little robotic beings. They can even experience positive emotional states when rudimentary, like other larger fluffy or not-so-fluffy animals.
DOI: Animal Behavior, 2022. 10.1016/j.anbehav.2022.08.013 (About DOIs).
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