Watch these bumblebees interact with wooden balls in what may be the first documented evidence of insects playing
of different sexes and ages in an arena with a single entrance. There was a clear aisle from the entrance to pollen and sugar water in the back of the chamber, but the insects had to pass between two adjacent rooms with 18 colourful wooden balls to get there. One room had free-moving balls, while the other had balls that were glued down.Over 18 3-hour sessions, the bees opted to enter the zone with free-moving balls 50 per cent more often than the zone with stationary balls.
“When you look at the videos of the bees on the balls, if you saw that in a dog, or a monkey, or even a bird, we’d have no problem calling it play,” saysNot all bees had the same knack for playfulness. Younger bees rolled more balls than older bees, and males rolled balls for longer than females of the same age. Just as kittens and puppies pounce and wrestle to build hunting skills, the mental and physical exercise of play may be especially beneficial during bumblebees’ youth, says Galpayage.
Because ball-rolling appears spontaneous and voluntary and doesn’t have immediate or long-term benefits for the insects, they could be doing it to have a good time, says Galpayage. “With humans, we can ask, ‘Are you having fun?’,” she says. “Whereas with animals, it’s always difficult to assess that.”
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