The College of Agricultural Engineering Sciences at the University of Baghdad, as part of the activities of the Plant Protection Department during its academic season, organized a seminar presented by Ph.D. student Zeina Mufeed Mahmoud, titled “Visual Perception in Social Insects.” The session was chaired by the Head of the Graduate Studies Department, Professor Radi Fadel Al-Jasani.
The aim of the seminar was to elucidate the extent of visual learning evolution in social insects, from simple levels such as the association between visual stimuli and their outcomes to more advanced performances like object classification or rule learning, which surpass visual learning in other insects.
Honeybees, ants, and bumblebees learn to associate different types of visual signals, such as colors or patterns, with food rewards. Even though these associations may remain rudimentary, performance can be modified through task complexity, indicating attention processes in these insects.
Social insects exhibit sophisticated visual capabilities. Wasps recognize each other based on facial markings, bumblebees learn to choose rewarding food sources by observing the choices of other bees, and honeybees and bumblebees learn to solve various types of conditioned discriminations. These displays acknowledge both primitive and evolved interpretations.
Honeybees respond adaptively to novel stimuli based on their previous experiences. Such positive transfer of learning, a hallmark of early forms of learning, has been demonstrated in studies elucidating classification, rule learning such as similarity or difference, and basic counting abilities in bees.
The seminar included scientific discussions attended by several faculty members from the department and graduate students.
We extend our best wishes to the student for success and prosperity in her academic journey.
