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 truck creates a wake as its driver tries to navigate a severely flooded street as heavy rains pour down Monday, September 8, 2014, in Phoenix. Storms that flooded several Phoenix-area freeways and numerous local streets during the Monday morning commute set an all-time record for rainfall in Phoenix in a single day. (Photo by Ross D. Franklin/AP Photo)

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Fireworks light up over Victoria Harbour to celebrate the 75th anniversary of China's National Day, in Hong Kong, China on October 1, 2024. (Photo by Lam Yik/Reuters)

People celebrate outside the Pennsylvania Convention Center after Democrat Joe Biden defeated President Donald Trump to become 46th president of the United States, Saturday, November 7, 2020, in Philadelphia. (Photo by Rebecca Blackwell/AP Photo)

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Aurora Borealis, or Northern Lights, shine over the plane wreck of a US Navy airplane – a Douglas Super DC-3 – on the Black Beach in Solheimasandur, south Iceland on January 18, 2018. (Photo by Owen Humphreys/PA Images via Getty Images)