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 holds her dog to be blessed outside St. Anton Church to mark St. Anton Day, Animal patron saint, in downtown Madrid, Spain, 17 Jan​uary 2022. (Photo by David Fernandez/EPA/EFE)

Simba, one month and four days old kid goat with 22-inch long ears, is held by his owner in Karachi, Pakistan on July 8, 2022. (Photo by Akhtar Soomro/Reuters)

Horse archery competitor Kimberley Robertson with her horse Chiko at her home in Hirstglen, Queensland, Australia on April 9, 2024. (Photo by Aston Brown/The Guardian)

Shi'ite Muslim girls take part in a mourning procession to mark Ashura, the holiest day on the Shi'ite Muslim calendar, in Istanbul, Turkey, on July 16, 2024. (Photo by Dilara Senkaya/Reuters)

Sami people from the Vilhelmina Norra Sameby, gather their reindeers herd in a corral for selection and calf labelling on October 27, 2016 near the village of Dikanaess, about 800 kilometers north-west of the capital Sweden. Sweden's Sami reindeer herders have more than hungry predators to worry about in the cold night, as the indigenous minority moves its flock to the winter pasture in the Nordic tundra. (Photo by Jonathan Nackstrand/AFP Photo)

A ring-tailed lemur is pictured at Zoom Torino, a zoological park in Cumiana near Turin, on April 22, 2015. Zoom Torino is a new immersive zoological park, where animals can be seen without bars or cages, only natural barriers ensure the visit. (Photo by Marco Bertorello/AFP Photo)

A man shows the logo of a T-shirt that reads “Stop the Cut” referring to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) during a social event advocating against harmful practices such as FGM at the Imbirikani Girls High School in Imbirikani, Kenya, April 21, 2016. (Photo by Siegfried Modola/Reuters)