A new study reveals the first direct evidence of spatial learning in any butterfly or moth species.

It's easy not to think much about the intelligence of insects. Tiny creatures with even tinier brains—how smart can they be?

But as biologists begin to rethink how animals think , even insects are being seen in a new light. Now a new study from the University of Bristol finds that Heliconius butterflies are capable of spatial learning.

The results provide the first experimental evidence of spatial learning in any butterfly or moth species.  

We have known about spatial learning in insects, but mostly in ant and bee species that live socially in a communal nest. However, as noted by the University, the new research suggests that "complex learning skills, such as the use of spatial information, may be more common in insects than previously thought."

“It’s fascinating to learn about the complex behaviours that even familiar animals like butterflies express as part of their natural ecologies," says senior study author Dr. Stephen Montgomery of the University of Bristol’s School of Biological Sciences. "These species are extracting and processing diverse information from their environment and using them to perform complex tasks—all with brains a couple of millimetres wide.”