When will fall arrive in your area? Interactive map guides leaf peepers to the best foliage spots.A cute cuddle or something more sinister? Bonobo that appears to be cradling a mongoose may actually have.'Even miniature creatures such as insects deserve our respect and ethical treatment and a duty to minimise suffering where it is in our power to do so.' 'We humans are only one of many species capable of enjoyment and suffering, including pain-like states. 'The increasing evidence for some form of sentience in insects places on us an obligation to conserve the environments that have shaped their unique and seemingly alien minds. 'The legal framework for the ethical treatment of animals may have to be expanded.
'Insects (unlike vertebrates) are not currently protected by any legislation regarding their treatment in research laboratories and in the growing industry that produces insects for human consumption or as food for conventional livestock,' Professor Chittka added.
'Such flexibility is consistent with the capacity of a subjective experience of pain.'īased on the findings, the researchers suggest that insects should be included in animal welfare laws. 'Our new work shows that bees' responses are more flexible and that they can suppress such reflexes when it suits them, for example if there is an extra-sweet treat to be had. The researchers also ensured that the trade-off relied on cues (colours), which the bees had learned to associate with a higher sugar reward.īecause the bees used learnt colour cues for their decisions, the trade-off was processed in the brain, rather than peripherally.īased on the findings, the researchers suggest that insects should be be included in animal welfare laws When both feeders contained high concentrations of sucrose and one of them was heated, the bees tended to opt for the unheated feeder.īut when the heated feeder contained a higher concentration of sucrose, bees were more likely to visit it. The feeders contained different concentrations of sucrose and were marked with different colours. In this case, the bees were given the choice between either a feeder that was unheated, or one that was heated to 55☌ – noxiously hot. In their study, the team used a 'motivational trade-off paradigm', in which animals must flexibly trade-off two competing motivations. 'We've discovered bumblebees respond to harm non-reflexively, in ways that suggest they feel pain.' 'Scientists traditionally viewed insects as unfeeling robots, which avoid injury with simple reflexes,' Ms Gibbons explained. While previous studies have shown that all vertebrates (animals with backbones) can feel pain, until now it's been unclear whether invertebrates (animals without backbones) can feel pain.
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