Insects have their own personality

New research suggests that every living organism has its own unique personality, even insects. Factors like genes, gender, life experience and environmental conditions give shape to the individual personality.

Individual insects and bugs may all look alike to human eyes, but each and every one is unique and possesses its own personality, suggests new research that also helps to explain how personality arises in virtually all organisms.
Some individual bugs, like humans, turn out to be shy, while others are very forceful, determined the study, published in the latest Proceedings of the Royal Society B.

"Boldness, explorativeness, activity and aggressiveness are the main personality traits usually measured because these connect to each other and appear together," lead author Eniko Gyuris told Discovery News. What makes a bug bold or shy? Gyuris explains the traits manifest themselves a bit differently in insects.

news.discovery.com...

Although I feel 'personality' seems too big of a word to describe insect behaviour, it does make me wonder about the complexity of these tiny organisms. This indicates insects learn from individual experience and adjust their behaviour accordingly?
I might approach those mosquitoes in my bedroom slightly different from now on - some observance before the strike, perhaps.

All the more reason to swat them mercilessly. They may rise up against us human overlords.

reply to post by Movhisattva


This does not surprise me.

When ever I see a dead animal I wonder what that animals personality was.
Was this animal the bravest, best natured and most beloved, or was this the troublesome aggravating ner-do-well everyone was waiting to get hit by a car anyway???

I'll bet even plants have "personalities" or individual identifying characteristic markers...that are different from other plants.

reply to post by Movhisattva

Another recent ATS thread on the same subject, and looks like the same source.

Just sayin...

Even bugs have personality.

Plus I want ya to check out the pic of a cool spidey over on that thread, lol.

peace

reply to post by silo13

Ok, thanks for the notice. It didn't seem to turn up in the search results.
Consider this thread closed, I guess.

I can personally testify to the conclusion of Praying Mantis species having their own personalities. Call me a nerd but I used to breed them when I was a kid. I can also state that Tarantulas also have different personalities (I collect spiders...). I know I'm a nerd leave me alone!

I have this strange fondness for clipshears. They must have a personality. 'Married' couples stay together till death, fight any sized foe that attacks them or theirs, and they look after their eggs till they're hatched and take babies for walks up plant stalks at night, etc, till they're all grown up and ready to leave home.
Guaranteed, if I'm pulling out old summer bedding plants or lifting sweetcorn or whatever, and a clipshear falls to the ground, whether male or female, the partner will be on the plant somewhere too. I can often be seen scurrying after the one that dropped with the one that was left behind so I can put them together again. I don't touch with fingers though, I hate beasties.
Found a devil's coach-horse yesterday and I let it run off. Kicking myself 'cos they put up a good fight if you try sweep them with a broom, and I could have filmed it for youtube.

reply to post by wigit


Earwigs...... .BLECH!! Hate those things and I am to be an entomologist. That should say something.

The Devil's Coach-Horse or Ocypus olens are very cool looking beetles though and although resemble Earwigs they are actually a type of rove beetle which is not at all related.

Originally posted by DaMod
Earwigs...... .BLECH!! Hate those things and I am to be an entomologist. That should say something.

Lol, I used to hate them too, till I found out about them from David Attenborough. He's got the knack of making you see things differently. I can't find the programme but I think it was BBC's wildlife on one.

Earwigs were fighting much greater beasties to the death, just to protect their eggs, and polishing them over and over again to keep mould off. There were greenfly up in the plants deliberately dropping down honeydew that seeped into the ground and caused the mould to grow.

Picture this - at the very end of the programme we had an out of focus golden sunset behind a close-up profile of a dandelion seed head. Slowly and majestically up the stalk comes mummy clipshear (dad got killed by a centipede or summit) and behind her comes all the little baby clipshears to watch the sunset with her. All the while there's a great musical score playing in the background. Awesome heh.

I once captured a grasshopper when I was little, I played with it all day and before I went to bed I returned it to where I found it outside.

The next day I wanted to see if I could find it, I went to the place sat down and called for it and before I knew it a grasshopper jumped towards me. I could see that it was the one I played with the previous day and it crawled willingly into my hand.

I lost it later that day when my friend scared it... (it jumped away and I never found it again)

But this proved to me that insects are capable of more advanced thoughts than what we have ever believed.
Humans only think animals and insects are stupid because we can't understand them. Humans are stupid.

I have been observing insects since I was a kid and love it. I have always wondered what I was seeing in each one of the same spieces that seemed somehow different. Such as a line of ants and then one falls out of line and goes the other direction or just stays still while the others carry on. How cool - its because they have personality! I have not seen a thread on this subject before so this one will do just fine for me. Thank you OP!

Ah, this explains the annoying fly that just wouldn't stop landing in my computer work area, even though i kept scaring it away with hand motion. The stupid thing would lift off, then land again like 20 times. Stubborn fly!

I thought you'd all find this interesting. From today's Daily Mail. Wish I'd thought of it. Might give it a go.

Grandmother who proved snails have homing instinct using a pot of nail polish wins amateur scientist award

Experts have always thought that the primitive molluscs are too simple a life form to be able to return to the same spot or navigate.

... her study has now proved the opposite is true.

link
www.dailymail.co.uk...

makes a lot of sense to me!

Does this mean they have rights now? Will vegans scream when folks eat em?