Bumblebees show cognitive flexibility by improving on an observed complex behavior

We explored bees’ behavioral flexibility in a task that required transporting a small ball to a defined location to gain a reward. Bees were pretrained to know the correct location of the ball. Subsequently, to obtain a reward, bees had to move a displaced ball to the defined location. Bees that observed demonstration of the technique from a live or model demonstrator learned the task more efficiently than did bees observing a “ghost” demonstration (ball moved via magnet) or without demonstration. Instead of copying demonstrators moving balls over long distances, observers solved the task more efficiently, using the ball positioned closest to the target, even if it was of a different color than the one previously observed. Such unprecedented cognitive flexibility hints that entirely novel behaviors could emerge relatively swiftly in species whose lifestyle demands advanced learning abilities, should relevant ecological pressures arise.

我们开展了一项针对蜜蜂行为灵活性的研究：实验要求蜜蜂将小型小球搬运至指定位置以获取奖励。研究对象蜜蜂预先经过训练，熟悉小球的正确放置位置。后续阶段中，蜜蜂需将发生位移的小球搬运至该指定位置，方可获得奖励。相较于观察"幽灵演示"（通过磁铁驱动小球移动）或未接受演示的蜜蜂，通过活体演示者或模型演示者学习该技巧的蜜蜂，任务学习效率更高。蜜蜂并未模仿演示者长距离搬运小球的动作，而是更高效地完成了任务：它们会选用距离目标位置最近的小球，即便该小球颜色与此前观察到的演示用小球存在差异。这种前所未有的认知灵活性表明，若相关生态压力出现，那些生存方式需要高级学习能力的物种，能够相对快速地演化出全新的行为模式。