Is My Beetle Aware?

[@pseudoname9229]

There is a famous KZbin video of a wolf spider allowing a man to remove carpet fuzz from his legs with an exacto knife. the spider seems to emerge from behind a hiding spot and give his legs to the man, one by one, to allow him to remove the annoying fuzz that inhibits its movement. The man is filming because he's done it before. Very interesting behavior.

[@duality4y]

source

[@StrangeScaryNewEngland]

@@duality4y Just look it up. It's been on here for year. "Man cleans wolf spider legs of lint"

[@imaspecofdust3913]

I literally decided to look it up. I'm assuming its this one?? kzbin.info/www/bejne/sGPaipKEgLN5p68si=UkMxOpZtxHBasF1a either way, I find it interesting to see non vertibres with some degree of intelligence

[@Mythraen]

​@@imaspecofdust3913 Spines don't help you think! Just ask an octopus.

[@rave6577]

Well wolf spiders are one of the smartest spiders and also "social" there is a clip about them recognising family members and shit.

[@floodedmoat]

Insect consciousness and intelligence is a really neat discussion and worth talking about from a beetle perspective. There was an article written in 1931, which is not only a highly entertaining and quick read, but recounts an entomologist attempting to break the instinctual habit of a golden digger wasp. The wasp normally leaves its prey at the opening of her burrow before retreating inside briefly to get things ready, but before she could retrieve it, the author would place it a bit further away from where she initially put it (Abbott 1931). Eventually the wasp would catch on, but the instincts are ingrained quite heavily. Another paper from 1980 talks about how similar digger wasps fall victim to the sunken cost fallacy, meaning two individuals will fight over a nest simply due to prior investment and not how valuable it actually is (Dawkins and Brockmann 1980). What we can learn from wasp behavior gives insight into the evolution of intelligence, but I haven't studied beetle intelligence a whole lot.

[@beetlecast]

That is some fascinating information on wasps and thanks for citing it, can't wait to read it over the weekend! For such a nuanced and open topic, I'm looking forward to throwing an attempt at covering this and I'm excited for the discussion and conversation that'll spark it.

[@bovinearrogance]

hehhehe bug emotions :3

[@ulpetzmaznat1366]

There was an experiment performed by Fabre (perhaps it's the same one described in your 1931 article, I'm not sure, as the details are different) where rather than just moving the grasshopper further away from the burrow, Fabre clipped off its antennae. The sand-digger wasp, which invariably grasps her prey's antennae when dragging it to the burrow, inspected the grasshopper on her return, and eventually grabbed onto its mouthparts to drag it to the entrance to the burrow. When she again left it outside the burrow to finish whatever she was doing, Fabre clipped off the mouthparts too. When the wasp came back and found there were no more appendages on the grasshopper's head, it appeared to give up, sealing up the burrow and egg, with the grasshopper still outside, even though there were 6 grasshopper legs she could have grabbed to manouvre it into the burrow. Fabre wrote: "She must have the antenna, or some other string attached to the head, such as one of the palpi. If these cords did not exist, her race would perish, for lack of the capacity to solve such a trivial problem".

[@AwesomeGuy16-ll9fw]

@@beetlecastI think you should update your channel, it has *bugs* in it (get it?)

[@iceshadow487]

We can be pretty sure that just about anything with a brain has intelligence and consciousness. But it's a gradient, so to be clear, I'm not saying ants are as smart as dogs, or humans. There are also different kinds of specializations for species brains. Apes are amazing at short term memory and can easily learn fast patterns. Cats are very predatorial and have an ambush instinct. And so on with other animals, blah blah. But again, everything with a brain is conscious to at least some level.

[@theneef174]

Well, every single time we look into this kind of thing, we come away going "wait, [animal] is much smarter than we thought"

[@beetlecast]

Lmao exactly, we’ve really come a long way in understanding intelligence outside of humans.

[@wrathofainz]

It's amazing how quickly we assume things about creatures and then have to correct ourselves.

[@solidsnake5644]

Tbf, most animals just don't think like us. Many are reactive and not proactive. But figuring out what they think and how they think are difficult as we can't experience what they experience. All we can do is look at how they react to external stimuli and postulate. The problem though is our general lack of understanding of how they think leads us to just dismissing them as stupid.

[@appletherapy]

It was scientists with huge ego's that hate animals that came up with this dumb idea that bugs and animals are stupid. Wether your religious or not! Animals and crawlies are far more precious than whe want to admit. Ditch scientists nasty ego and love the animals and crawlies we live by.

@@appletherapy It's all Socrates fault. Plato said man was a featherless biped so Socrates had to be all mister autism guy and bring him a plucked chicken and say "behold this is a man" and Natural Historians have had a problem ever since. It's not all rainbows and sunshine though I don't think youtube will like it if I talk about the dolphin struggle snuggle caves.

[@keiichi8191]

"A stag beetle?" **puts on hat** "PARRYI the stag beetle!?"

[@vvvxt]

PEEEERRYYYYYYY!!!!

[@charmsovereign7364]

do ba do ba doo ba, do ba do ba doo ba

[@garg4531]

🤣🤣🤣 (Or rather, “STANLEY the stag beetle?!” To go with the whole alliterative thing)

[@portpebble]

Oh my gosh the way he leans upwards when you pet him… Do beetles enjoy pets!? thats so cute omg

[@beetlecast]

Haha, I like to think so! And I'll keep petting him a lil unless he pinches me.

[@tmaxim2651]

Just throwing out a #saverottmnt #riseseason3

[@waffler-yz3gw]

pretty sure all animals do

[@wj11jam78]

​​@@waffler-yz3gw Almost all animals enjoy certain sensations on their skin, which humans are great at providing. It does depend on the animal, though. Birds typically only like being pet on their hard bits (like around their beak), petting their feathers actually pulls on them and causes them damage, so they don't like it. But they do like preening. I haven't figured out how my girlfriend's leopard gecko likes to be pet yet. She seems to like a little rub around the neck, but she usually walks away after a short time, so I suppose she can only take a little bit. I found out quickly that she hates her tail being touched.

[@childofcascadia]

For a lizard, a tail being touched is like someone running up behind you and grabbing you from behind with no warning. Its a predatory threat. Id try neck, maybe a little farther backif shes relaxed. Make sure she can see your finger. Also when shes shedding she might appreciate it more as lizard skin sheds in pieces and I bet its real itchy.

[@shlingusdingus4174]

I have Praying Mantids and have cared for them for atleast 2-3 years. The first two Giant African females were the most intelligent and friendly ones I have ever owned. Taki was confident, a brillant hunter, and was an absolute sweet heart. Sarvente was shy, but much more gentle and kind of clumsy. I could handle both of them with without issue and they would gladly climb on my hand and hang out for hours. When given the choice to freeroam my bed and climb on other things, they would willingly come to me so they could climb onto my arm. One time I decided to show Taki to my family in a controlled manner and she did the craziest thing. Mantids can apparently recognize faces, and prior to this interaction she had never seen anyone else other than me. When she saw my family members, she flattened out on my hand and tucked her arms in very close, an indication that she was cautious and trying to hide. She kept swaying back and forth and literally leaning away from the direction my family was standing in the room. They do this to better their depth perception and to camouflage since its mirrors the look of a swaying leaf, and when Taki does it, it means she's trying to figure out what's in front of her. It was almost palpable how bewildered she was, visibly, when seeing new people. And when I took her back into my room, she immediately calmed down and got out of her defensive posture. But for a bug, their range of behavior and recognition of things is incredible.

[@beetlecast]

What an amazing read, thank you for sharing your experience with mantids! It's fascinating to learn about other insects and their displays of complex behaviors that really suggest a level of awareness and consciousness.

[@SilvaDreams]

They do have consciousness, I mean all living creatures do but it's all a matter of levels because otherwise they can't really react to stimuli which would result in death. It's just a matter of some have better pattern recognition than others, like most predatory species will show more correlation and recognition abilities as they need to find and seek food. They also need to figure out "danger" and "not danger", in the case of your mantis they know you are not a danger to them and there is food when you are near by thus they "enjoy" being around you as much as they can. Your family members were unknowns, thus causing stress and uncertainty if they were potential predators themselves. Just look at us when we meet new people, despite being highly social animals we get stressed and unsure. (Well some... Some are social butterflies who in some ways lack self preservation and think everyone is a friend)

[@davidnewhart2533]

Stupid question, are the names of your Mantids based on FNF characters? Just curious.

[@shlingusdingus4174]

@davidnewhart2533 They 100% are, thank you for asking. I got into both characters at the time and named my Mantids after them.

[@rsuriyop]

Oftentimes I almost feel as if I learn more from KZbin clips and other people's comments from personal experience than I would from actual books that I've read.

[@Ysumbruh0]

That beetle literally managed its anger definitely conscious

[@momsberettas9576]

How so? A computer could simulate such behavior but that would hardly make it conscious.

[@prizma45]

@@momsberettas9576 bruh

[@Prismate]

@@momsberettas9576 this is why nerds get bullied at school

[@FarremShamist]

@@momsberettas9576 A human puppet could simulate such behavior, but that would hardly make it conscious.

[@zzodysseuszz]

@@FarremShamistfalse equivalency.

[@Ciryc_Kabur]

Had a tarantula that exhibited seemingly unique behaviors, it would give high fives/fist bumps in greeting

[@Foxingg]

i think awareness is a learned behavior, not an innate one. bugs definitely operate a lot more on instinct than humans, but they still have memories which form their awareness. i mean, we know wasps can commonly recognize faces and teach their young the differences between "tolerable" people and dangerous people

[@beetlecast]

Ooh very interesting, never thought of awareness that way but maybe it is the best way to explain situations that show no awareness till later in their lifetime. Will be fun to look into.

[@Ysumbruh0]

Pretty sure most if not all animals are pretty much hyper focused on their survival much like a person being focused on completing their task they’ll only start getting more awareness when given the time and safety to.

[@litjellyfish]

Yes and i think consciousness is a big part of gathering data and then analyzing / comparing it to ones world map so to speak. I mean basically until we have experienced something that we with logic or emotions or instinct can relate to it’s a black box. Then when we fit that black box information and connect it to our cognitive system we both learn things and also update our cognitive system. Some as learned first hand. Some are learn second hand. Some might affect dna and evolution and some not. It’s also about probability. Take a group of animals that live in an environment where the probability that 70% would experience same interaction with something. Most likely a big % of those 70% would “learn” things during their lifespan not related to DNA or not needing to be coupled to a generation. Why? Well because by pure physics and behavior I would be so. It’s like chaos theory. If we have some paths drawn in the sand and out water there. It’s no guarantee that all water will follow the same path. But in most cases a big % does. And if you repeat similar experience in similar conditions often same things happen. So that is why I think learning can happen a lot more organic that many seems to think. I does not need to be so advanced or planned or intended.

[@wendi-bnkywuv]

Weird. Seems to be the opposite for me. I was very aware and self aware as a child, but as I've gotten older and learned more, I'm much less aware of things and myself.

[@wendi-bnkywuv]

@@litjellyfish This strikes me as unusual. I am quite the opposite. Developing anxiety and depression made me understand it less, but when I didn't have it, I had a greater understanding and was more empathetic because *I couldn't* understand how it felt, so if I couldn't imagine what something felt like, I knew it had to be serious. Feeling it has made me more apt to be like "well find a solution to it then instead of complaining!" instead of simply understanding and being supportive.

[@m.streicher8286]

The Salticidae family has shown me that organisms we consider insignificant can posses intelligence far beyond the average persons understanding. You have a new subscriber.

[@beetlecast]

Appreciate the subscribing and I completely agree with you. Every time I notice a jumping spider, I can't help but stop and watch whatever they're doing at the moment. There's something sagacious about them.

[@notoriouspsi]

Y'all might enjoy the children of time series. It's hard sci-fi that plays a lot with the concept of consciousness of beings other than humans.

[@simtexa]

I can 100% believe that jumping spiders are smarter than most arthropods. They turn to face you when you interact with them. Although they're probably not conscious in the way we imagine, I'm convinced they're at least able to look at you and recognise you as another being.

[@Diego_Brando1]

Your lying theres no why that kind gentlebeetle would ever bite somebody

[@beetlecast]

Every gentlebeetle has a dark side that rarely comes to light

[@mr.business2922]

Gaslighting man with living staple remover in his hand is wild

[@Guff93]

*way

[@earlofwickshire5416]

@Diego_Brando1 *you're

[@mr.business2922]

@@earlofwickshire5416 YOU'RE NEXT

[@miloe6259]

i’d LOVE a deep dive on insect consciousness!! my beetles have their own personalities, how could they not be aware?

[@beetlecast]

Haha pretty much my logic too! Would love to do a deep dive then!

[@TheSquishyFudge]

seconded!

[@aick]

Yes please!

[@SockyNoob]

Agreed. Try telling me jumping spiders aren't conscious.

[@aick]

@ConstructBreakdown Sounds like you're a member of a very young species in terms of this planet and the time species have been on it. *pat* Arrogance is adorable, try saying that to a wasp's face.

[@-aid4084]

Jumping spiders are no doubt aware and calculating. The way they see you and seemingly think is so cute to watch.

[@AlextheLordofFire]

I like you are keeping things grounded instead of just getting emotional about and just go “of course it loves me!!!! Don’t you see it in its eyes????”

[@GreasusGoldtooth]

Most insects are capable of very basic learning and problem solving. They alter their behaviors based on various stimuli. That would seem to imply some form of consciousness is present.

[@beetlecast]

Definitely, and the question is how complicated can it get? There’s plenty of studies in bees and ants that are fascinating to read about but I’m really curious about non-eusocial insects. Although a study on Austroplatypus spirachtha would be awesome if they weren’t so difficult to study!

[@LordBathtub]

I dont think a basic reaction to stimulus can be attributed to consciousness. A single cell amoeba will react to changes in light or temperature and I dont think many would say they have consciousness

[@GreasusGoldtooth]

@@LordBathtub Reacting to stimuli isn't enough to verify consciousness, but the ability to learn likely is.

[@AdhvaithSane]

The irony is scientists *struggle* still (lol) to define what consciousness actually is or sentience and have yet to define what exactly is consciousness or sentience, therefore how can we even decide if we, Humans are conscious to begin with lmaooooo.

[@yan-amar]

@@AdhvaithSane Yes this is part of what makes this topic so fascinating. Even sentiments / feelings are not defined properly or agreed upon widely in the literature.

[@Wolvenrain]

i really liked how you kept petting your dog throughout the video- a very cute sequence...

[@michael-ti8jy]

Hahahaha I love that you just referred to that beetle as a dog because it 100 percent is just enjoying his pets and treats lmao

[@agentsomnium]

It's nice to see so many commenters open to the idea, normally humans are like "nuh-uh, only WE'RE conscious cuz WE'RE the BEST." Entomology fans are awesome.

[@beetlecast]

Hahaha exactly, this community is truly awesome!

[@bingusbongus9807]

yeah, i really feel like many many animals (and almost certainly all mammals) are just like use and deserve love and help and kindness and life as much as we are able to the only difference is that animals are mentally deficient and struggle with cognitive tasks that we can do, but thats not their fault they were born like that

[@rainbowsorceress2082]

​@@bingusbongus9807mentally deficient 💀

[@landsgevaer]

I bet that idea correlates with religiosity.

[@solidsnake5644]

We need to be careful of humanizing animals as many don't think like we do, but we shouldn't be so quick to dismiss their form of intelligence.

[@zeta3498]

As someone who also takes care of bugs, I think they are absolutely aware. They learn things, they respond in their own way when I do certain things or speak to them. They are super neat little guys

[@DrakoWulf]

I think the intelligence shown by certain eusocial arthropods and certain active hunter arthropods is enough to conclude that conscious thought is at least possible among arthropods. My primary examples would be wasps, bees, and jumping spiders. They certainly get the most attention when it comes to studying the intelligence of arthropods, but it clearly extends outside of just those arthropods.

[@beetlecast]

Eusocial arthropods are especially interesting to look into but I hope as we get a better understanding of consciousness, we can look to more species. Can't wait to research more!

[@DrakoWulf]

@@beetlecast We recently just mapped out the entirety of a fruit fly's brain, and there's currently study to find out if jumping spiders dream, so we're certainly making the right steps!

[@DrakonBlake]

Yes, I love jumping spiders! And I have often talked about intelligence and other weirdnesses people seem to have with non-human (and even human) organisms in general. Such as describing certain bits as machines or relating those bits to machines when that’s not quite accurate, and how it’s weird to me for people to not consider humans, animals. Because humans are very animal, in many ways. So more stuff on this kinda thing is always great.

[@beetlecast]

@@DrakoWulf Oooh, would love to read that study if it's published and available!

[@DrakoWulf]

@@beetlecast KZbin auto deletes any links I send, so I sadly can't send it over to you.

[@jswp5]

Intelligent or not, that's a beautiful beetle. Props to you for taking such great care of him

[@Eddardstark9308]

Saying an insect isn’t conscious is like saying a dog doesn’t dream as its barking while its asleep

[@beetlecast]

Haha, that's a great analogy

[@Ranstone]

Remember, people used to say babies didn't learn to smile till 1 year old, and that smiling before that was just them having gas. It was total BS, but perpetrated as fact for a long time. People assume too little of animals.

[@cooliipie]

Bingo

[@landsgevaer]

I don't necessarily mind a claim that insects are not conscious, but then also do not ascribe consciousness to other people.

[@AvgGamerGuy15]

@@landsgevaer this... amen to that. there are some people who were in my high school who would make make a freaking earth worm look smarter than them, and it bugs me to this day... when i seen this beetle, i knew what was going on. Insects are way smarter than folks give em credit for. hell, people have trained honeybees to respond to air pollution in a similar way to dogs learning tricks so air quality can be assessed with their help. its wild what a "simple bug" can really learn... also, as someone with a major interest in the fields pf space, weather, and bugs, this vid is proof that bugs have the ability to learn, and could very well be concsious and think "what a bunch of morons out there today..." when they look at karens arguing with someone... we dont know, maybe never will, but its fun to think imo lol

[@DaveDuper]

I had a little spider that lived on my window sill a while back and made a web between the night light and the frame. It fed on the occasional ant that came in, so I put out a little candy next to its web to help her out and attract more prey. The next thing I know, there's a wrapped ant left on top of the night light. I think it was trying to repay the favor.

[@Shinntoku]

Little bugs can have so much personality! My husband has a hissing cockroach and he's the cutest little gu. He loves fruit and meat treats, but his regular meal is leafy greens and he will refuse to eat spinach. Sure, he may not perceive the world the way I do, or have all the cognitive abilities of a human, but there's definitely more going on in that little bug brain than a lot of people think

[@beetlecast]

Haha, your hissing roach is just like me. But for sure there’s more than what meets the eyes in these cute critters!

[@transitionshotline]

Yes, insects are aware and communicate intentionally with us. It's so cool when people notice that.

[@Jacobk-g7r]

2:10 yes they do and if you want go look at the crab study they just did about nociception and how they used eeg like devices to watch their brains so they could see better. The scientist say that it looks like a conscious reception and reflection of pain. They are conscious of their pain. So boiling them alive is really mean and I’ve always thought that because all animals and stuff has consciousness and when we share, see the reflection and respect it, we can share with its differences or integrate them to share consciousness with them. Like we see it’s spirit or measurement and allow it to be with us in our reflection and respect shares freedom so we can share the measurement with our other measurements in the brain and see potential. It isn’t unreal but in a different form sharing with you because you shared with it. Sorry if that sounds crazy but it’s hard to describe in words lol

[@zooning-6843]

Ya, def crazy. TL:DR empathy/sympathy is feeling with or for others pain.

[@Jacobk-g7r]

@ very basic but yes. Good job.

[@springfield197]

Damn..now I want some fresh Grabs. Welp, next year time to go crabbing.

[@kitandsons173]

Poor things.

[@JollyJackGang]

That Little Fellow Is So Majestic!

[@4saken404]

I used to have a couple incredibly large hermit crabs (about baseball and softball size) and can tell you for a FACT that crustaceans can have different personalities. The smaller one wasn't much more than a shell that if you flip it over has a very angry claw coming out of it. But the larger of the two ("Crabzilla") was ridiculously docile and tame. Furthermore he would intentionally not use his pincers when he was climbing me but would hold on for dear life with everything he had if he was climbing an inanimate object. So he not only recognized me as a living thing had decided not to him harm but he had enough trust that he would override his most basic instinct in order not to harm me. This also means that he knew I could experience pain (and despite my physiology being so much different than his). "Lump" also knew this. He once pinched the everloving sh*t out of me when I tried to pick him up and make friends with him. But he let go as soon he knew he got his message across (which was that I should put him the f*** down and leave him the hell alone). They were as different as night and day. Furthermore I had assumed that Crabzilla was docile due to formerly being someone's pet but I later learned that no one takes the time to raise hermit crabs to that to that size. They just pay people to catch them in the wild and then just ship them to pet stores. So just imagine next time you see a bunch of hermit crabs that each is an individual with different experiences, wants and personalities.

[@dreamescence]

Dayum crabzilla chill like that

[@hiylantavaga1343]

“Even a stag beetle shows a form of consciousness-its choices, restraint, and purpose reflect its role in the greater design. All life, no matter how small, carries a spark of awareness, reminding us of the interconnectedness of creation. It’s a humbling call to live with respect and compassion for all living things.”

[@mr.business2922]

0:31 Pinsir Vise Grip vs. Common Man: 114-135 (47.5 - 56.2%) -- 85.1% chance to 2HKO

[@beetlecast]

Can’t believe I just got damage calc’ed I must play more careful now

[@snaifhassnan6348]

Translate to English?

[@avocad0_0verlord]

@@snaifhassnan6348pokemon, pinser is a beetle pokemon and vice grip is a move it can use - the numbers are statistical windows because the videogames use random number generation to determine the outcome of most actions

[@sponge4969]

That beetle has more self control than my father when he gets mad 💀

[@beetlecast]

rip

[@unlimited971]

Trying to be know ib chat music, eh

[@considerthetubes2864]

As a lifelong fan of everything creepy and crawly, I really do feel like the stigmatization of the consciousness of all invertebrates was weird even at a young age. Even the seemingly simple organisms like dust mites can have entire semesters of teaching just for their feeding behaviors, fruit flies will get drunk off fermented fruit or nectar after being rejected by a mate, and their lifespan will actually decrease if they see the dead body of another of their kind. Wolf spiders are known to show anxiety and frustration when a lone female was put in charge of a litter, attempting to brush them off of her and biting the cotton ball in her enclosure. Bees have been proven to enjoy playing. To end this off, a reminder that it’s still relatively recent that it’s common consensus that dogs and babies feel pain. As science progresses, I’m sure we’ll eventually find out that even the smallest brains can display a variety of emotions, and have their own distinct personalities.

[@MrHuntingClaw]

Yeah, I remember when I used to be a baby, I didn't enjoy crawling around on the floor too much as it would make my knees hurt as I dragged them around while trying to move, haven't really thought about how people weren't aware that babies can feel pain, probably just assumed people knew.

[@rainchopper898]

I think anyone that said babies don't feel pain is extremely stupid or says that to rationalize FGM practiced on infants. I don't believe it's a recent consensus that babies feel pain, rather I believe anyone with an ounce of empathy understood this to be true, even since the infancy of civilization.

[@Chrom4Prez]

0:16 Ahh the classic "it all started cause i wanted to see his golden mouthpart." Thats how they get you

[@williamsurname4669]

I don’t think a scientific discovery proving they have no human-like conscious would convince me that they have no conscious of any sort. I think they get just as much pain and pleasure out of life as humans, even if they feel it in a completely different way. But then again, I think rocks and other non-living things deserve respect, so maybe I’m crazy.

[@aaronhunyady]

Rocks contain living cells on the order of thousands to billions of cells per gram of rock. They are endoliths: bacteria, fungi, archaea, and algae. Rocks are alive.

[@alastair1955]

I am a commercial beekeeper. Years of observing honeybees has convinced me they think, and analyze situations.

[@PlatinumAltaria]

Disregarding the question of consciousness, since stag beetles aren't particularly social maybe it just has no idea how to interact with a friend.

[@beetlecast]

Haha, that could very well be the case too!

[@GremlinJohnny]

why do i see you everywhere i go lol

[@PlatinumAltaria]

@@GremlinJohnny Because I don't have a life, next question.

[@Owen_Rubix]

Just an adorable stag-puppy, what a good boy.

[@moonrisestudiosco]

I'd be interested in seeing if any species of these large beetles are able to pass the mirror test like some ants do. Even the most basal insects have sentience so it makes you wonder how advanced the most advanced can get. Learning about how smart even the simplest animals can be made me vegan. I wonder if you could devise some series of experiments like the mirror test or something to try and gauge the awareness and problem solving abilities of different beetles.

[@beetlecast]

Yea I need to do a lot more research to see if there’s any tests designed for insects. Mirror test might be difficult to gauge for larger beetles that don’t really display much self grooming behavior but would be fun to try anyway. It’s such an interesting topic!

[@aick]

I absolutely believe that insects have consciousness. I have had wasps living all around my house for years. Every spring I go out and they come to the porch and investigate me but they never sting ME and I don't clear out their nests unless they get too big. I just speak calmly to them and don't make aggressive motions and try to avoid getting any cigarette smoke on them.

[@beetlecast]

Especially with bees and wasps or any insect with an weapon, a conscious respect really feels like it goes both ways.

[@aick]

@@beetlecast I think so. ♥

[@11er33.]

Wasps are super chill if you're not freaking out and attacking them

[@tahunuva4254]

"Consciousness" has so much magic bs attached to it that what you _really_ want to be asking is, "is he UNconscious?" He's moving about, reacting to his environment, definitely doesn't seem asleep or dead, sooo....

[@leafy126.5]

thats an interesting take. I like it

[@beetlecast]

Yea gotta agree with you, a lot of it can be chalked down to specific definitions that are misinterpreted/oversimplified in the common public with a touch of differentiating ourselves for the sake of feeling special.

[@shatteredreality_513]

That careful yet firm pinch definitely looked like a, _"Hey._ Please keep feeding me, I wasn't done yet." Like a stressed-out, hungry teen. And that's way too cute.

[@sacr3]

I'm more surprised that the people don't think they have a consciousness. I think it's because we are human beings, the simplistic line of thought that if other animals don't display human like behaviors they are not alive is very real, animals can only do what their bodies allow them to do. You can't be a cat anymore than an insect can be a human. Humans are animals of course, we need to mate, we need relationships, we get angry, we need to use the bathroom, we get depressed when we are alone, we get excited when we see someone that we haven't seen in a while, the only difference here is that you are a human and we use a very complicated language system that has allowed us to have what we have today. So when you experience something, you have the added benefit of using that language to comprehend and better understand what you are feeling. That doesn't mean any other animal can't feel, it just simply means that they can't comprehend what they are feeling to the extent that we can using our language. Every complex organism on this planet has consciousness, but it's consciousness is limited to the parameters of the body it has. So we can't expect a beetle to do things that we want it to do that makes us bond with it more, because it's a beetle not a human, humans keep trying to look for what they would expect from another human out of other species that share their information and experiences differently than humans. In the end like what they say on wikipedia, neuroscientists find that it is obvious to them that every single life form has consciousness, but they accept that it is not obvious to the public, there is no way we can prove that anyone other than ourselves are conscious so we just simply have to accept that every life form around us is conscious. So is your beetle a conscious little creature? Of course it is. Why the hell wouldn't it be? Consciousness is not correlated to brain size, brain size and brain complexity is what limits Consciousnesses ability to interact with this existence.

[@MrJay_White]

its empathy. its easier to dismiss another creature as not aware than to consider it might be able to process experience. the twist to empathy being, its the core mechanic in how to predict prey as a predator, as much as its the mechanism to relate to others in your social group.

[@Ranstone]

That is an excellent point about brain size... I never thought about that... There is no evidence intelligence is correlated to consciousness at all now that I think of it. I _imagine_ a more complex brain could achieve higher levels of consciousness, but that's based on guesswork, not evidence.

[@XDrotkon]

When I read on people separating themselves from animals and other creatures on this planet, I'm even more convinced that just like animals or beetles, not all humans are capable of fleshed out thoughts. There's like 1-2% that are very intelligent and capable of learning and remembering, and 20% smart but still leaning more into instincts.

[@cooliipie]

Reality is not so black and white. Humans are definitely not in the same category as animals, but we both have a consciousness.

[@MrJay_White]

@@cooliipie humans are in the category of hominidae. subcategory of simians and primates.

[@intensecutn]

Having the Waking Life soundtrack as your background music has made my day. Absolutely LOVE that soundtrack.

[@jukj3778]

A deep dive would GREAT, and I’d enjoy it very much!!! And honestly, I think all insects might have consciousness, but maybe they vary in some way. Anyways, what a gentleman pinchy boi is, and a very smart learner

[@beetlecast]

Yea I read a book about flies recently that made me think they have consciousness too, incredible how such tiny organisms can have pretty complicated systems. Regardless would love to go deeper into the topic!

[@jukj3778]

UR ALMOST AT 3K !!! This video is actually a masterpiece

[@cosmickitteh]

watching you pet him with your thumb is too cute

[@Badguy292]

This just popped into my feed randomly, cute beetle! Thumbs up from me.

[@KalleVonEi]

There was a study that proved that flies feel actual fear, not just instincs, so yh i think most creatures are smarter then we give em credit for

[@SuicidalMassTragedyXD]

too bad they dont feel fear enough to stop flying on our food.

[@KalleVonEi]

@jmister6824 no risk no fun

[@beetlecast]

Ooh if you can find the study please send! Just read a book recently all about flies and it was incredibly enlightening how complicated their behaviors can get despite their small size

[@KalleVonEi]

@beetlecast it was a while ago dunno if ill find it, but to summarize they tested if flies could develop fear of specific things like for example a certain smell, if they feared something they didnt fear before after a bad experience it proves that this new fear wasnt an instinct, it was learned

[@rafox66]

I can confirm that flies do not feel fear, you can swat all their buddies and they'll still come buzzing around your food.

[@willft520]

What an amazing beetle! I do believe these little fellows have incredible knowledge and they might be aware of things we are not. I hope we can uncover these misteries one day!

[@DOOMVXGA]

I’m honestly surprised by the amount of people who think that bugs _don’t_ have consciousness!

[@beetlecast]

Same but I’ve been surprised to many times before haha

[@shawns0762]

I used to keep ground beetles as pets. I often picked them up and pet them while feeding them peanut butter and jelly. They are sentient.

[@JustSushi0]

We kept a couple rose hair Chilean T’s. When first handling them, while they were always pretty docile, they seemed threatened when you would stick your hand down into their enclosure. After a couple weeks though, I believe they understood it as a practice. When a hand comes in, it’s time to go out for a little. I think there is more than meets the eye to a lot of insects and arachnids but the analogue to subjective behaviors is interesting because it implies that they have personalities but only to a very specific limit. I’d say make more vids on this man Im interested. Subbed.

[@beetlecast]

Awesome, tarantulas are such beautiful creatures. Would be happy to make a follow up to this so thanks for subscribe and sharing your experiences!

[@MajandraFan]

Recently I went to bed and right after turning the light off, a large huntsman crawled across my arm. I turned the light on and jumped out of bed. The huntsman followed me around the edge of the bed. When I stopped retreating, it stopped too, looked up at me and twitched its front two legs lightly towards me. A moment later someone brought me a plastic container to carry it. As soon as I put the container near it, it crawled inside and waited. It let me carry it outside to the garage where it crawled out after I put it down. I have been nice to huntsman for years, but never experienced an interaction like that before.

[@williammcginley3004]

I had a bee fly into my hot coffee once. I saved it's life by getting it out of the hot liquid, and set it in the sun to dry off. After drying off it just chilled with me for a bit... even allowed me to pet it!!! Then eventually it flew off. Maybe it was a moment between us of kinship. Idk for sure, honestly, but at the time it felt pretty cool having a bee for a friend!

[@jameshuspek]

I have a pet field cricket that has complete awareness and will paw at his enclosure when he sees me and will crawl directly into my hand when i open the lid to his enclosure. im glad people are starting to notice and study their behavior further.

[@kingeling]

It bugs me that we're in well into the 21st century and cerebral studies are still very incomplete

[@beetlecast]

Yea right? Excited to see what the future holds in discoveries but it’ll be tough to see development in this regard. Convincing grants is no easy feat for this topic haha

[@Ranstone]

"If the human brain were so simple that we could understand it, we would be so simple that we couldn't" -Emerson M. Pugh.

[@rabbit0664]

I believe it could be possible. Granted they're not insects but I keep isopods. Sometimes I put, for example, tuna on my fingers so they can be hand fed. Sometimes when I lift the lid up some of them run and hide. Others though they wait to be hand fed. Like if I put a finger right in front of them they'll lift a head up and start grabbing at the food to eat. Some even walk towards my fingers before eating. Some of them are used to being picked up. Like they'll just hang on my hand until I put them down. I've also had a spider enter my house. I could tell it wasn't the first time they went into a house because they were calm when I put them in the cup and set them outside. The next day I saw that same spider and they didn't make a fuss over being carried outside again.

[@walter1383]

As a teenager I did summer volunteer work at the Oregon Zoo, half of that time in the insect zoo specifically. One year we had mantises raised from the ootheca of which 4 or 5 reached adulthood. Well one mantis was a picky eater, when she would get a cricket, she'd bite off the head and left the rest to rot, every single time. None of her siblings shared this behavior and she was perfectly healthy. So I'm inclined to believe that they do have personalities like vertebrate and cephalopods do.

[@beetlecast]

Haha what a fun preference, always wanted to test my beetles if they have a taste preference but haven’t gotten around to it. You met a rare mantid gourmand.

[@DualStupidity]

I cared for a colony of Pseudomyrmex gracilis for a while and they often amazed me with how much personality they could show off. I hypothesize that part of their awareness can be attributed to their great eyesight.

[@GladBeastBoy]

Consciousness is a wild thing man

[@beetlecast]

It really is

[@HartSickle]

The recreation wasn't working because he didn't want to do it on camera. Avoiding that assault charge.

[@beetlecast]

Playing right into my hands, that’s a case for awareness!

[@videoedits3584]

Can you please make more petting bug videos? this is so cute and niche I can barely find anyone taking such good care of them

[@beetlecast]

Hahaha, I definitely will. It’ll probably be interspersed between content but maybe when I had a bunch of b-roll I could put together a compilation

[@videoedits3584]

@@beetlecast cannot wait to see "Beetle petting whiserping ASMR" appear in my feed

[@ProudOgreDad]

He's a handsome fellow. Wonderfully shiny stag.

[@dotcomgamingd5564]

maybe he felt bad for biting you the first time...haha!

[@beetlecast]

Haha that’s what I like to think

[@dafightinfish2747]

Clearly he knew you were filming, and didn't want the video evidence to incriminate him.

[@omegahaxors9-11]

I mean we just learned that plants can feel pain and see color, we've come a long way from "animals can't feel pain"

[@hawkblood_art]

I just got into the whole topic of mushrooms and I frankly question everything lol

[@beetlecast]

Mushrooms are the craziest things ever haha

[@beetlecast]

Yea cant wait to learn about more discoveries!

[@TheHeavyModd]

Plants don't have pain receptors or a nervous system with which to see or feel pain.

[@balsalmalberto8086]

These types of channels are the best youtube. keep recommending them.

[@bingusbongus9807]

wonderful observation to share

[@f__kyoudegenerates]

I had a praying mantis when I was a kid I caught. She would come towards me and try to get on me always because I would hand feed her crickets. If I was near the glass of the aquarium I used she would stand nearest me. That changed how I thought about insects, arachnids, bugs and stuff.

[@Ashley00c]

The big ones do but crickets don’t they stare a a wall for how ever long you let it

[@Ranstone]

How long have you been staring at your phone? :P

[@denifnaf5874]

Jumping spiders? Pretty clever! Centipedes, not so much

[@robertdobie8680]

I first started raising darkling beetles about a year ago, and I’ve found that they definitely have distinct personalities.

[@Atom-Phyr]

Spiders are aware of themselves. It's obvious.

[@SmarteeeSteve]

I had a fly who got bored of exploring my house and wanted out. Gave up trying to get through windows glass and waited on me to open it. Didn't run away when I got close and started lifting the window, seemed to understand I was letting him out. I've been not stung by wasps I've grabbed from my pool skimmer A jumping spider seemed to accept my help of herding a fly toward him

[@scribbles1424]

They have some intelligence. We had ants at my work that would only come out at night to avoid people and being sprayed. They also only scouted along the walls and never swarmed in the open unless it was under something.

[@kitandsons173]

As a beekeeper I can tell you they absolutely have independent thought. They problem solve and change their minds. The negotiating that occurs during the changing of the guards, what guard bees will be put in charge is noticeable. They also allow some pests to go into their hives but will attack others. Some are more curious than others. They will fly up to your face and stare at you. I accidentally disrupted a wild bumble bee nest. The next day, I went in my yard, my teenage kids were out there, not being bothered. A couple fat bumble bees spotted me, chased me into my home, I ran into the house, looked out my kitchen window and a bunch were outside staring me down from outside. Creeped me out. Too smart. lol!

[@qoph1988]

It's strange that the assumption isn't "hey, this creature is moving around, it's probably thinking and feeling something" but instead the exact opposite.

[@quinn_m]

Absolutely, would love the deep dive

[@alexanderthegreatest7742]

Bugs are definitely living beings. I remember one time at a new apartment I walked by a bug a few times and didn't stomp on it. At first it would run away when it saw me then it realized I wasn't a threat and would come hang out with me.

[@landsgevaer]

If you can accept that consciousness comes in many forms, some more "advanced" than others (which should not be difficult since your own consciousness experience differs when you are sober, asleep, drunk, tired, etc...), then insects having some form of consciousness is entirely likely. I just haven't got a good idea what it would be like to be a beetle.

[@kaidenjohnson3735]

Beetles are so cool. I remember when i was in 3rd grade we did a study on live Beetles in the classroom. They were a type of Wood Beetle and I think they made like 20 different noises that we if we could we had to try and identify. Ever since then ive always thought Beetles were one of the coolest insects and I would totally own one as a pet.

[@tavitafish]

I remember reading a study forever ago (like 12 years ago) talking about how cockroaches had family units and rudimentary emotions.

[@CorpseTongji]

some of my guinea pigs do this when they want to stop being held . just a gentle little bite without much force behind it . its usually the very smart and fearless ones that do this , like 'hey buddy, you and me both know what i got, i let you pick me up but now i want to be back on the floor'

[@Ratizmal]

I once had my praying mantis perched on my hand, and was petting her. She tapped my hand with one of her arms, and I stopped. Started petting her again, two taps, stopped. Started petting again and she gently grabbed my finger and started to slowly move her mouth towards it. Typical biting behavior, but I've been bitten by mantises before and I cannot stress just how lethargic and gentle this was. Maybe I'm anthropomorphizing her, but I'm absolutely convinced she was giving me warning taps to get me to stop petting her, and escalated it to a warning bite when I didn't. It didn't seem like solely instinct, it seemed calculated and deliberate. Message received! No more pets.

[@Deilos_pizzagame]

A deep dive on this would be amazing

[@notafraidofchange]

This is a no-brainer for me: ABSOLUTELY, yes!

[@fortunadodesperado]

There was an interesting experiment done with goldfish where their tank would move the direction they were swimming. They found that goldfish were much smarter than previously thought.

[@HuckleberryHim]

There are lots of fascinating examples of arthropod intelligence, but one that seems relevant here are the passalid beetles ("bessbugs"). They are highly social, cooperative, and produce a very large variety of noises. Children will help their parents care for their younger siblings!

[@thecianinator]

One time I almost stepped on a spider cricket in my basement. I felt myself step on it, stopped myself from putting my weight down, and took my foot away. I looked at it, it looked at me. The next morning I felt something on my ankle when I was in the kitchen, right above the basement. It was a spider cricket with a gimpy leg. It climbed up my entire body and perched on my shoulder. So, did a bug that I accidentally injured but stopped myself from killing recognize that I showed it mercy, and then learn to see me as safe?

[@buburms]

OMG PLEASE DO A DEEP DIVE ON THIS!!!! ive been so interested in insect/beetle psychology as of late :))

[@kblake6841]

I was hiking miles from anywhere & a huge dragonfly came & hovered in front of my face & followed me. It really felt like he had never seen a human before & was curious.

[@martindye]

My cat uses gentle nips with his teeth (not biting) to communicate - like when he wants to go under the duvet (I lift it up and he goes under to get even more warm). So communication like this using what you have as a resource seems plausible.

[@MrEffinBest]

I rescue hundreds of wolf spiders that fall into my pool every summer, and this one time I pulled one out of the skimmer basket that was half-drowned. I knew it was alive, because I saw it treading water and then getting sucked down. The way I grabbed her, she somehow turned around, grabbed my thumb with her legs and... nibbled me. It was so strange. It was clearly a bite, but not painful and didn't even leave a mark. I believe the spider understood I was helping her and it was either defensive bite that she stopped, or her desperately clinging with her legs and mandibles. Either way, it was intelligent, seemingly conscious behavior to me.

[@TeamGun]

I seen a test they did with bees. Food was down 2 halls, 1 hall a direct path, the 2nd hall had little fuzzy balls the bees could play with. If the bees couldn't think they'd go straight for the food, but the bees chose to play with the balls every time.

[@kitandsons173]

Mine have gone to construction areas, roll in sawdust and form perfect round balls in the floor of the hive. I never knew it was so they could play with them.

[@DarwinHandy]

What a great little video. I wanna think I saw some genuine emotion in parryi's little eyes.

[@snowdaysrule]

So I've had a pet cricket for a month now because I was curious about this kind of stuff and my assessment of the matter is there is definitely something going on. Like it's wild! I keep her on a TRAY on my desk and it would essentially be effortless for her to hop over the edge but she doesn't (at least not yet haha). I feed her an oat or 2, a leafy green, and a few drops of water from an eyedropper at night and I believe she's associated me with feeding so while she's always apprehensive of my presence she doesn't ever full-bown "panic" like one would expect and try to hop away. And she most certaintly could get away if she wanted to she is FAST like hop across the room fast. Now what to make of all this? I'm not sure. But it has fundamentally changed how I see the capabilities of insects. There's something more going on

[@Raergur]

if youve ever interacted with a jumping spider before youll know just how observant and curious they are. People even keep them as pets. My fav little creature :)

[@adamdavidsoddities8573]

I could train grasshoppers to sit on my shoulder as a child. I remember even going to the grocery store with my mom and the grasshopper was on my shoulder. I just persistently handled them and they would get used to me.

[@quite1enough]

yeah I remember encountering Mantis first time in my life and he or she looked at me in a way that I never saw insect can look at you, I felt it like being a smart intelligent being

[@ulyssesm.daniels6927]

This was pretty cool, there is definitely some kind of cognition there.

[@TranceSFX]

These videos are amazing. I love testing traditional norms of knowledge when it comes to weird creatures and their behaviour. I've definitely had some hilarious and interesting encounters with spiders that convinced me they're just terrified, confused and conscious little fuckers! Also wanted to thank you for not making a 26 minute video on the origins of insects, the universe, life, and ultimately KZbin as a platform before getting to the meat of the content at 24 minutes in. Nice and to the point :)

[@MysteryGameGeEk3000]

I think it just learned that you're going to give him the food back... so no need to waste energy in pinching. The first time it pinched you was probably its instinct to stop other predators from stealing its food. It learned it doesn't need to pinch you or fight back for the food. Still incredibly amazing.

[@smokejaguar67]

When I lived in Guyana as a child in the late seventies, I would rescue Coprophanaeus lancifer beetles and take them home, as the school kids seemed to enjoy crushing them for fun. I noticed that each beetle had its own unique character. One, the largest of them all, would cling to my forearm for hours, almost as if it knew it was safe with me and could fly away whenever it chose.