Once upon a time a myth was born that insects, unlike animals, are just a machines that not capable of learning and survive only based on their instincts. That myth has become the widespread opinion. Of course, this opinion is indeed erroneous, like many other widespread opinions. Let us try to find out which part is a myth and which part is true.

A protester sprays paint on the window of a bank during a rally against Expo 2015 in Milan, Italy, April 30, 2015. The Milan Expo will open in the city on May 1. Officials are counting on some 20 million visitors to the six month-long exhibition of products and technologies from around the world. (Photo by Stefano Rellandini/Reuters)

A Russian-made rifle, carried by this woman when she was captured in Nearby Brush, is slung around her neck by South Vietnamese soldiers before they began their interrogation of her as Viet Cong suspect near AP La Ghi in Vietnam, August 25, 1965. The girl behind the woman, also was captured in the brush. (Photo by AP Photo)

In this February 20, 2018 photo, fair vendor Noelia Flores holds up a black backdrop behind a small statue of an “Ekeko”, the god of prosperity, for a portrait at her booth during the annual Alasita Fair in La Paz, Bolivia. Every year, thousands of Bolivians head to the feast of Alasitas that is held in his honor to buy miniature cars, houses and toy dollar bills symbolizing their dreams of prosperity. (Photo by Juan Karita/AP Photo)

Prince Philip, the Duke of Edinburgh meets members of the cast of “Chicago” during a visit to the Adelphi Theatre in this March 4, 1999 file photo in London, England. (Photo by Anwar Hussein/Getty Images)

A Kashmiri Muslim woman balances on a water pipe before collecting water at Dasilpora village on March 22, 2018. World Water Day is held annually on 22 March as a means of focusing attention on the importance of freshwater and advocating for the sustainable management of freshwater resources. (Photo by Tauseef Mustafa/AFP Photo)

A demonstrator uses a TV case as a facemask during a protest to demand justice for Daniel Prude, on September 3, 2020 in New York City. Protests were planned in New York September 3 over the death of Daniel Prude, a black man that police hooded and forced face down on the road, according to video footage that prompted a probe from the state's attorney general. (Photo by Kena Betancur/AFP Photo)

This photograph, taken on September 28, 2019, shows an Erythrina Abyssinica planted in a pasture on Ferme Espoir, owned by former President Joseph Kabila, in Masisi territory, northeast of the Democratic Republic of Congo. (Photo by Alexis Huguet/AFP Photo)