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 cat sits in the flooding waters from Hurricane Matthew in downtown Nichols, South Carolina, October 10, 2016. (Photo by Randall Hill/Reuters)

A competition, now in its 43rd year, dedicated to showcasing the beautiful and bizarre as seen under a light microscope attracted over 2,000 entries from 88 countries. Here: Honorable Mention by Emre Can Alagöz, Istanbul, Turkey: The eyes of a jumping spider, magnified 6x. (Photo by Emre Can Alagöz/2017 Nikon Small World Photomicrography Competition)

Parade participants during the traditional “Masopust Carnival” festival on February 13, 2018 in Roztoky near Prague, Czech Republic. Known as Masopust (literally, “giving up meat”), the festival was traditionally the last chance to eat and drink in excess before the austerity of Lent. (Photo by Margot Buff/RFE/RL)

Rohingya refugee sisters Nur Kaida (R) and Ruhana hug each other at their shelter at the Palongkhali refugee camp near Cox's Bazar, Bangladesh December 21, 2017. (Photo by Marko Djurica/Reuters)

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)

Georgian men take a break from selling fruit and vegetable at a street market in Tbilisi, Georgia, Wednesday, July 20, 2016. (Photo by Shakh Aivazov/AP Photo)

A veterinarian from the zoo of Besancon feeds “Soa”, a female crowned sifaka, in Besancon, eastern France, on February 18, 2019. The crowned sifaka is a critically endangered species from Madagascar. There were only 6 females over 20 individuals living in 7 zoos worldwide end of 2018. (Photo by Sébastien Bozon/AFP Photo)