Study Finds Bumblebees Show 'Liking' and 'Disliking' to 60% Sugar and 5% Salt
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jul 6
Study Finds Bumblebees Show 'Liking' and 'Disliking' to 60% Sugar and 5% Salt
3 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jul 6
Summary
Slow-motion video showed bumblebees extending their glossa after sweet tastes but shaking their heads and wiping their mouths after salt or quinine, behaviors researchers say mirror mammalian 'liking' and 'disliking' signals.
Five test solutions—60% sugar, 20% sugar, water, 5% salt and 1 millimolar quinine—produced distinct reactions, with post-consumption licking strongest after sweet droplets.
Eighteen colonies were tested under heat stress, satiety and drug exposure to rule out a simple reflex; responses shifted with context, including heat making water or salty solutions more appealing.
The PNAS study adds to growing evidence that insects may have subjective experiences, a still-contested idea that could widen ethical debate over how animals beyond mammals are treated.