Social learning: public information in insects (original) (raw)

The rapid expansion of the field of social learning in recent decades [1,2] has almost entirely bypassed the insects. Yet, a close inspection of the literature reveals numerous cases where insects appear to learn by observation, eavesdrop on members of the same or different species, and even engage in teaching other members of a society. In fact, the first hint of observatory learning by animals dates back to Darwin's field notes published by Romanes . Darwin suggested that honeybees learn the art of nectar robbing -extracting nectar from flowers via holes bitten into the tubes, without touching the flower's reproductive organs -by observing bumblebees engaged in the activity. Experimental proof for this conjecture remains outstanding, but it is interesting to note that Darwin thought that observatory learning might occur across, rather than within, species ). This deserves more consideration, and we will return to it later.