In a photo taken on June 5, 2017 a traffic security officer stands on duty at an intersection in Pyongyang. Officially known as traffic security officers but universally referred to as traffic ladies, they are chosen for their looks in a society that remains traditionalist in many respects. They must leave the role if they marry, and have a finite shelf-life, with compulsory retirement looming at just 26. (Photo by Ed Jones/AFP Photo)

Men and children gather as a camel is being slaughtered in celebration of Eid al-Adha, in Peshawar, Pakistan on August 12, 2019. (Photo by Fayaz Aziz/Reuters)

A woman whose family members are trapped under rubble wails after a landslide washed away houses in Raigad district, western Maharashtra state, India, Thursday, July 20, 2023. While some people are reported dead many others feared trapped under piles of debris. (Photo by Rafiq Maqbool/AP Photo)

A woman walks past graffiti on a wall in the Williamsburg neighborhood of the borough of Brooklyn, in New York, September 16, 2014. The picture was taken through car window with raindrops. (Photo by Shannon Stapleton/Reuters)

A man braces his umbrella while walking through the snow on February 13, 2014 in New York City. Heavy snow and high winds made for a hard morning commute in the city. (Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)

A person lights fire crackers during the celebrations of Mawlid al-Nabi, the birth anniversary of Prophet Muhammad, in Hyderabad, Pakistan, 04 September 2025. Mawlid is observed on the 12th day of Rabi al-Awwal (the third month of the Islamic calendar) in Sunni Islam and on the 17th day in Shiite Islam. (Photo by Nadeem Khawar/EPA)

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 wearing a raincoat collects a plastic bag near a beach as Typhoon Bualoi nears, in Nghe An province, Vietnam, on September 28, 2025. (Photo by Thinh Nguyen/Reuters)