"Honeybees may look pretty much all alike to us. But it seems we may not look all alike to them. A study has found that they can learn to recognize human faces in photos, and remember them for at least two days.
A honeybee inspects a photograph of a face in preparation for a landing. (Courtesy the Journal of Experimental Biology)
The findings toss new uncertainty into a long-studied question that some scientists considered largely settled, the researchers say: how humans themselves recognize faces.
The results also may help lead to better face-recognition software, developed through study of the insect brain, the scientists added.
Many researchers traditionally believed facial recognition required a large brain, and possibly a specialized area of that organ dedicated to processing face information. The bee finding casts doubt on that, said Adrian G. Dyer, the lead researcher in the study.
He recalls that when he made the discovery, it startled him so much that he called out to a colleague, telling her to come quickly because “no one’s going to believe it—and bring a camera!”"
http://www.world-science.net/exclusives/exclusives-nfrm/051209_bees.htm
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