When it comes to architectural accomplishments, humans like to think they stand at the

top of the pyramid. That is to underestimate the astonishing achievements of social insects:
termites raise skyscraping nests and honeybees fashion mesmerisingly geometric combs. The
true master builders of the insect world, however, are the hundreds of species of stingless bee,
native to the tropics and subtropics, which weave combs of unparalleled variety and intricacy
inside hollow tree trunks or other cavities.

Now a group of evolutionary biologists led by Viviana Di Pietro at KU Leuven, in

Belgium, reports that, like humans, these tiny-brained creatures are capable of building
according to different architectural traditions which are then handed down over generations.

The finding, published in Current Biology, is the clearest demonstration yet of cultural
differences spontaneously appearing in insects. Insect culture would once have been thought
impossible, says behavioural biologist Andrew Whiten of the University of St Andrews, who
was not involved in the research. “Less than a century ago, culture was thought to be uniquely
human.”

To collect their data, Ms Di Pietro and her colleagues observed more than 400 colonies of
the stingless bee species Scaptotrigona depilis in a large apiary in Brazil over two extended
periods in 2022 and 2023. Around 95% of the colonies exhibited combs built up in horizontal
layers, like tiered wedding cakes, while the remainder adopted a spiral structure. In each case
the tradition was maintained over many generations of worker bees.

Since S. depilis shows a strong preference for a horizontal-layer comb structure, it is

surprising that spiral combs occur at all. Capturing the insects’ behaviour on video, the team
established that there was no difference in average cell-building rate between the two styles,
and hence no efficiency advantage to either.

In order to rule out a genetic explanation for the different styles, the researchers
transplanted workers from colonies that built in one tradition to colonies that built in the other,
having first emptied the host structures of their indigenous adults. The imported workers soon
switched to the local style, which was then perpetuated by the colony’s own larvae as they
eventually matured into workers.

Tom Wenseleers, who runs the lab in which Ms Di Pietro is a doctoral student,
hypothesised that the bees may switch styles as a way of coping with the build-up of minuscule
construction errors made by their predecessors. Such a process, in which multiple organisms
indirectly affect each other’s behaviour through the traces they leave on their environment, is
known as stigmergy. To test whether stigmergy was in fact responsible for the stylistic schism
between bee colonies, the researchers introduced a hint of helicity to otherwise perfect
horizontal-layer combs, and found that it did indeed prompt the bees to switch to building
spirals. That is strong evidence in favour of Dr Wenseleers’s hypothesis.

These results have left observers of animal culture abuzz, as they suggest that stingless
bees can transmit different building traditions across generations without individuals needing
to be instructed by their peers. This is a more expansive way of thinking about culture, which
is often rigidly defined as behaviour directly transmitted from individual to individual until it
becomes characteristic of a group.

For Dr Whiten, the new finding indicates that more complex animal behaviours—the
building of dams by beavers or nests by chimpanzees, for instance—may also have arisen
through such indirect transmission. Though it is too early to know for certain, say scientists, it
is possible that some human traditions could have stigmergic roots too.

Bees may not be done confounding expectations. In recent laboratory experiments with
bumblebees, Lars Chittka, a behavioural ecologist at Queen Mary University of London, found
that they were capable of learning cumulatively—that is, adopting and expanding upon the
innovations of previous generations. The team trained “demonstrator bees” to open a
complicated two-step puzzle box (in which blue and red tabs had to be pushed out of the way
to reveal a solution of sucrose), and then observed other insects learning the right technique
from the demonstrators. Such cumulative culture, which does require social learning, was
previously thought to be unique to humans. It may be long past time to make room at the top
of that pyramid.
1. What is the main finding of the research led by Viviana Di Pietro and her colleagues?

a) Stingless bees exclusively build horizontal-layer combs.

b) Stingless bees have cultural differences in comb-building.

c) Stingless bees build combs faster than other bee species.

d) Stingless bees are genetically predisposed to building spiral combs.

2. What role does stigmergy play in the comb-building behavior of stingless bees, according to
the article?

a) It dictates the genetic predisposition of bees to build in a certain style.

b) It influences the efficiency of comb construction.

c) It enables bees to learn comb-building techniques from their peers.

d) It helps bees adapt their building style based on environmental cues.

3. What does the article suggest about the potential implications of the research findings for
understanding human culture?

a) Human culture is entirely separate from animal behavior.

b) Human traditions may have originated from indirect transmission similar to stigmergy.

c) Human culture is too complex to be compared to animal behavior.

d) Human culture is solely based on direct instruction from individuals.

4. According to the article, what surprising behavior did bumblebees exhibit in recent laboratory
experiments?

a) They learned to communicate with other bee species.

b) They demonstrated the ability to solve complex puzzles.

c) They built nests using materials from their environment.

d) They exhibited territorial behavior in controlled settings.

5. What does the article suggest about the understanding of cumulative culture?

a) It is a phenomenon unique to insects like bees.

b) It requires direct instruction from one generation to the next.

c) It is a recent discovery in the field of behavioral ecology.

d) It may not be exclusive to humans, as previously believed.