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 person stands near the “Untitled” installation of miniature elevators by Maurizio Cattelan at a preview of the Postwar and Contemporary Art Evening Sale at Christie's auction house on November 4, 2011 in New York City. The 33-inch functioning elevator installation is expected to realize $400,000-$600,000 at the November 8 auction. (Photo by Mario Tama/Getty Images)

A boy carries empty sacks after bringing different types of plastic materials to a recycling station in Khartoum North April 16, 2015. People bring bottles and other plastic materials to the station for recycling, and get paid in return. (Photo by Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah/Reuters)

Self-employed pedicab driver Danilo Guerra, 25, uses his mobile phone as he waits for clients in downtown Havana April 12, 2016. (Photo by Alexandre Meneghini/Reuters)

A woman cries after her husband was shot dead by unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles in Manila, Philippines late October 10, 2016. According to police reports, around 2,300 people have been killed in Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte's war against illegal drugs. The figure was revised by the police from an original tally of around 3,600 deaths. (Photo by Damir Sagolj/Reuters)

People immerse themselves in an ice hole in the Chulym river, with the air temperature at about minus 12 degrees Celsius (10.4 degrees Fahrenheit), during celebrations for the Russian Orthodox Epiphany outside of the town of Nazarovo, Krasnoyarsk region January 19, 2015. (Photo by Ilya Naymushin/Reuters)

David Nickerson, 28, competes dressed as artist Bob Ross, during the ZJ Boarding House Halloween Surf Contest in Santa Monica, California October 26, 2013. (Photo by Lucy Nicholson/Reuters)

The head of a decapitated rooster is pictured after a rooster run, during celebrations in honour of San Juan Bautista in San Juan de Oriente town, Nicaragua, June 26, 2015. The rooster runs, where horse-riders try to pull the head off live roosters, symbolize the beheading of John the Baptist. (Photo by Oswaldo Rivas/Reuters)