Bumblebee Pleasure Responses Hint at Affect Far Deeper Than Vertebrate Evolution

Macquarie University and Southern Medical University researchers documented facial behaviors in bumblebees that parallel pleasure and distaste responses in mammals—extending their tongues for sweet solutions, shaking heads for bitter or salty ones. Since insects and vertebrates diverged 600 million years ago, the parallel suggests either powerful convergent selection for affective processing across species, or that such mechanisms are far more ancient than assumed. The finding reshapes assumptions about consciousness.