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 woman waits to hear about her sister, a teacher, following a shooting at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut. A man killed his mother at their home and then opened fire inside the elementary school where she taught, massacring 26 people, including 20 children, as youngsters cowered in fear to the sound of gunshots reverberating through the building and screams echoing over the intercom. (Photo by Jessica Hill/Associated Press)

Makeup artist He Yuhong, also known as “Yuya”, checks herself in the mirror during a photo shoot following her transformation into the “Girl with a Pearl Earring”, the 17th century oil painting by Dutch painter Johannes Vermeer, at her house in Chongqing, China on August 14, 2018. (Photo by Thomas Suen/Reuters)

Elephants spray tourists with water in celebration of the Songkran water festival in Thailand's Ayutthaya province, about 80 km (50 miles) north of Bangkok, April 9, 2014. (Photo by Rungroj Yongrit/EFE)

A hummingbird flies in the sanctuary “El Paraiso de los Colibries” near Cali, Colombia, July 28, 2016. (Photo by Jaime Saldarriaga/Reuters)

Television actress Catherine Fuller visits Trafalgar Square in London and feeds the famous pigeons. (Photo by Harry Kerr/BIPs/Getty Images). 26th June 1956

A dog wearing a Captain America costume, walks on a leash at the “Blocao” dog carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Saturday, February 18, 2023. (Photo by Silvia Izquierdo/AP Photo)

Raccoon Fritzi eats at the home of veterinarian Mathilde Laininger in Berlin, Germany, January 27, 2022. She cares for four raccoons that can no longer be released into the wild. Raccoon Fritzi has an Instagram account with ten thousand followers. (Photo by Hannibal Hanschke/Reuters)