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.

Spanish actor Antonio Banderas embraces a robot used in the film Automata during a photocall on the third day of the 62nd San Sebastian Film Festival, September 21, 2014. Banderas stars in and produced the science fiction film, which is part of the festival's official section. (Photo by Vincent West/Reuters)

Gunfire erupted at a Denver pot celebration Saturday, injuring two people and scattering a crowd of thousands who had gathered for the first 4/20 counterculture holiday since the state legalized marijuana... Photo: A woman smokes a large marijuana joint at the Vancouver Art Gallery during the annual 4/20 day, which promotes the use of marijuana, in Vancouver, British Columbia April 20, 2013. (Photo by Ben Nelms/Reuters)

Biologist Kelly Martin records her measurements of Electra, a 5 1/2 foot leatherback turtle nesting on the beach behind the Seminole Golf Club course in Juno Beach. Martin uses a red light which is invisible to turtles. (Photo by Greg Lovett/The Palm Beach Post)

Scientist Jiri Sindelar checks a ring of a Boreal owl chick outside the “Smart Nest Box”, which allows the study of birds by using mounted cameras, in a forest near the village of Mikulov, Czech Republic, June 18, 2016. (Photo by David W. Cerny/Reuters)

Vendors selling marigold garlands, which are used to decorate temples and homes during the Hindu festival of Durga Puja, drink tea as they wait for customers at a wholesale flower market in Kolkata, India October 6, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

Members of the media touch a moving model of a Tyrannosaurus, which uses a dinosaur-type human-operated mechanical suit called “Dino-Techne” by Japanese firm On-Art, during a media preview of the Dinoa Live Exhibition / Amazing Dinosaur Art Exhibition in the Shinjuku district of Tokyo on December 10, 2020. (Photo by Philip Fong/AFP Photo)

A child plays the ice slide at the Ice-Snow World park in Harbin, capital of northeast China's Heilongjiang Province, January 5, 2017. The theme park which used about 330,000 cubic meters of ice and snow for construction opened on Thursday. (Photo by Xinhua/Barcroft Images)