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.

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)

A woman holds-up a white T-shirt trying to prevent being shot, as Palestinians flee Gaza City to the southern Gaza Strip on Salah al-Din street in Bureij, Tuesday, November 7, 2023. (Photo by Mohammed Dahman/AP Photo)

A couple poses for a joint photograph in a photo booth (photomaton) at a metro station in Paris on July 24, 2024. (Photo by Dimitar Dilkoff/AFP Photo)

“Sociomobile” by Jasleen Kaur goes on view as part of the 2024 Turner Prize exhibition at TATE Britain on September 24, 2024 in London, England. This year marks the 40th anniversary of the Turner Prize, and it returns to Tate Britain for the first time since 2018. The prestigious award is presented annually to a British artist who has delivered an exceptional exhibition or presentation of their work. The four artists shortlisted for the 2024 Turner Prize are Pio Abad, Claudette Johnson, Jasleen Kaur, and Delaine Le Bas. (Photo by Tristan Fewings/Getty Images)

A man washes his horse as a woman bathes her son at concrete water pens under a flyover in a slum area in Kolkata, India October 21, 2016. (Photo by Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters)

A general view shows the wreckage of armed trucks on the streets of Budapest at the time of the uprising against the Soviet-supported Hungarian communist regime in 1956. The picture was taken in the period between October 23 and November 4, 1956. (Photo by Laszlo Almasi/Reuters)

“On March 8th activists celebrate International Women’s Day, which dates back to the early 20th century and has been observed by the United Nations since 1975. In the run-up to the event, Reuters photographers in countries around the globe took a series of portraits of women and their daughters. They asked each mother what her profession was, at what age she had finished education, and what she wanted her daughter to become when she grew up. They also asked each daughter at what age she would finish education and what she wanted to do in the future. The series of images offers an insight into the lives of women and girls around the world”. – Reuters. (Photo by Feisal Omar/Reuters)