When you’re bored, you might start playing with a ball or other object. Such behavior is common in people. Other animals like it too — that’s why a dog fetches a stick, or a cat bats at toys. Play is an enjoyable way to pass the time. A new study finds that it’s not just mammals that like to play. Bumblebees do it too.
That finding appeared in the December issue of Animal Behaviour.
Researchers consider play to be a sign of intelligence. They mainly study it in vertebrates — animals with backbones. These studies find that young animals spend much of their time playing. As they get older, they do it less. Unlike other types of behavior, play doesn’t lead to a reward. It doesn’t get an animal food, a mate or shelter. Yet they still do it.
We know that play is fun for people — the act of playing is the reward. It’s likely the same for other kinds of animals.
Hiruni Samadi Galpayage Dona wanted to know if bumblebees might play. She is a graduate student at Queen Mary University of London in England. “Something that is crucial for bees is to learn to manipulate flowers to get their food,” she says. Interacting with objects could help bees learn skills for when they are older. But in order to know whether play helps young bees build skills, Galpayage Dona first needed to see if they played with objects when given the chance.
Play ball
Galpayage Dona’s experimental setup consisted of a box, a tunnel and a flight arena. The small box contained a nest with about 200 bees. Of those, 45 had been tagged with a number when they emerged as adults, so the researchers knew how old they were. The nest connected to a flight arena — a larger box — via a tunnel. The arena provided plenty…
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