Data set from: Inferential reasoning in wild bumblebees

The ability to make a decision by excluding alternatives (i.e., inferential reasoning) is a type of logical reasoning that allows organisms to solve problems with incomplete information. Several species of vertebrates have been shown to find hidden food using inferential reasoning abilities. Yet little is known about invertebrates’ logical reasoning capabilities. In three Experiments, I examined wild-caught bumblebees’ abilities to locate a “rewarded” stimulus using direct information or incomplete information—the latter requiring bees to use inferential reasoning. To do so, I adapted 3 paradigms previously used with primates—the two-cup, three-cup, and double 2-cup tasks. Bumblebees saw either 2 paper strips (Experiment 1), 3 paper strips (Experiment 2), or 2 pairs of paper strips (Experiment 3) and experienced one of them being rewarded or unrewarded. At test, they could choose between 2 (Experiment 1), 3 (Experiment 2), or 4 paper strips (Experiment 3). Bumblebees succeeded in the three tasks and their performance was consistent with inferential reasoning. These findings highlight the importance of comparative studies with invertebrates to comprehensively track the evolution of reasoning abilities, in particular, and cognition, in general.