Recent research reveals that humans have long underestimated insect intelligence. Bumblebees excel in behavioral tests alongside crows, using tools to extract nectar from artificial flowers. Behavioral biologist Elizabeth Tibbetts notes the impressive learning capabilities of paper wasps, which can memorize faces, eavesdrop on rivals, and tackle complex brain teasers. These species, along with other insects, challenge the outdated notion of them as mindless beings. Insects can store images, shapes, and experiences, and some, like earwigs, have maternal teaching behaviors. Surprisingly, insects from the same brood can exhibit different personality traits; for instance, horseradish flea beetles can vary in bravery. Tibbetts compares paper wasps to Game of Thrones characters, highlighting their social dynamics, including plotting and betrayal. This complexity allows species to adapt better to environmental changes, showcasing a rich tapestry of insect intelligence that demands a reevaluation of how humans view these creatures.

This panel discuss how to include invertebrate animals from spiders to sea creatures in debates on animal welfare to ensure their interests are protected and promoted.

Scientists have long accepted the existence of animal culture, be that tool used in New Caledonian crows, or Japanese macaques washing sweet potatoes. One thing thought to distinguish human culture is our ability to do things too complex to work out alone no one could have split the atom or travel into space without relying on the years of iterative advances that came first. But now, a team of researchers think they’ve observed this phenomenon for the first time outside of humans, in bumblebees.

In every ocean, just beyond the shores, lives an animal with characteristics that many people think of as “human”–intelligent, social, curious, gentle, and fierce. They build cities, use tools, and collaborate with other species to hunt. They have personalities–some are bold, while others shy. These animals can change their skin colour, texture, and body shape in the blink of an eye and see in wavelengths beyond human vision. Recent studies reveal octopuses’ consciousness, sophisticated decision-making, and unique personalities. On tropical reefs, in frigid waters, from the shoreline to the deep sea and everywhere in between, the octopus have made a home.

The Biologic Podcast breaks down the science of a recent study on spider cognition. Recent research on jumping spiders reveals that the species Monomantis semilimbatis can distinguish biological from non-biological motion, a cognitive ability once thought limited to vertebrates. Using point-light displays, scientists discovered that spiders rely on their secondary eyes to detect movement, then direct their high-resolution primary eyes for closer inspection. The findings challenge assumptions about intelligence in small animals and highlight invertebrate cognition as a promising frontier in understanding perception and consciousness.

In this episode of his “Life in Colour” series, David Attenborough explores how animals use color, pattern, and shape as adaptive strategies to survive. Toxic species like ladybirds and African queen butterflies display bright colors to signal danger, while harmless mimics like hoverflies and butterflies adopt similar warning patterns to avoid predators. Others, such as moths and caterpillars, rely on camouflage or shape mimicryresembling twigs, leaves, or snakesto blend in or intimidate. These strategies show how animals use visual cues to say “I’m toxic,” “Don’t eat me,” or “I’m part of the environment,” revealing the sophisticated language of nature’s visual communication.

This film tells the story of a filmmaker who forges an unusual friendship with an octopus living in a South African kelp forest, learning as the animal shares the mysteries of her world. What begins as curiosity becomes a transformative journey that deepens the filmmaker’s empathy, vulnerability, and sense of belonging. Through daily ocean visits, he shifts from observer to participant in nature, reshaping his relationships, priorities, and understanding of life’s interconnection.

Bumblebees can not only learn to pull a string to obtain a reward through structured training, but they can also transmit this skill socially. Animal behavior researcher Lars Chittka and colleagues used a method commonly applied to birds and mammals. Food, in this case sugar water, is available to an animal, if it can get at it. Through increasingly challenging setups, selected bumblebees eventually developed the consistent practice of pulling a string to get at the prize. But once one bee was trained, others could then learn just by watching and interacting with a more experienced peer.

The human brain is one of the most sophisticated organs in the world, a supercomputer made of billions of neurons that control all of our senses, thoughts, and actions. But there was something Charles Darwin found even more impressive: the brain of an ant, which he called “one of the most marvelous atoms of matter in the world.” Anna Stöckl takes us inside the tiny but mighty insect brain. Lesson by Anna Stöckl, animation by Studio Gal Shkedi.

This video explores groundbreaking research into the cognitive abilities of jumping spiders, who are small, agile predators with brains the size of a poppy seed. Produced by David Frank, it follows Cornell scientists who used 3D printing and ultra-thin electrodes to stabilize the spider and record brain activity for the first time. These scientists discovered a neuron that integrates input from both high-resolution and motion-detecting eyes. The findings reveal sophisticated visual processing and challenge long-held assumptions about intelligence in animals with tiny brains. Read the full story at: http://nyti.ms/1GkWS6T.

Ants have one of the most complex social organizations in the animal kingdom; they live in structured colonies that contain different types of members who perform specific roles. Sound familiar? Deborah M. Gordon explains the way these incredible creatures mate, communicate and source food, shedding light on how their actions can mimic and inform our own behavior. Lesson by Deborah M. Gordon, animation by Steve Belfer Creative Inc.

Though an individual ant doesn’t seem very smart, a group of these insects can perform amazingly complex behaviors. Listen as Ted Schultz, Research Entomologist at Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History, explains how a colony of ants interacts like the human nervous system to complete intricate tasks.