Science // Insects & Minibeasts

Insect communication and behaviour

Insect communication and behaviour: bees perform a waggle dance to tell hive-mates where flowers are. Ants lay pheromone trails for others to follow. Fireflies flash light patterns to find mates. Crickets chirp by rubbing their wings. Monarch butterflies migrate thousands of miles across continents. How insects 'talk' without words.

Ages
9 to 11
Type
Concept
Builds on
2 topics
Leads to
0 topics

Quick check

Can the learner explain how bees tell each other where to find flowers, how ants leave invisible trails, or how fireflies use light to send messages?

Ask this to see whether the topic is secure.

Topic // Mastery

What mastery looks like

What a learner can do once this topic is secure.
  • Describe at least three ways insects communicate such as the bee waggle dance, ant pheromone trails, and firefly light signals
  • Explain what information a bee conveys through its waggle dance, including direction and distance to flowers
  • Describe the monarch butterfly migration and explain why it is remarkable in terms of distance and navigation

Topic // Map

Where this fits

What to learn first and what this topic opens up, with the reason for each link. Required links come first.
  • RequiredMust come first
  • HelpfulHelps, but not essential

Before this

2 topics
  • Social insects: ants and beesRequired

    Insects & Minibeasts // Ages 7 to 9

    Must understand social insects before studying their sophisticated communication systems

  • Incredible insects: record-breakersHelpful

    Insects & Minibeasts // Ages 7 to 9

    Record-breaker fascination sets up interest in extraordinary behaviours like migration

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Insect communication and behaviour

Ages 9 to 11 // Concept

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0 topics

Nothing in the catalogue builds on this topic yet. Browse Insects & Minibeasts

Topic // Research-informed

Teaching notes

From the Marble Skill Taxonomy. These notes have not been validated in classrooms, so treat them as a starting point for your own judgement.

The approach

For ages 9-11, this topic builds the idea that insect communication is a SIGNAL carrying INFORMATION that changes another insect's behaviour, without words. The star example is the honeybee waggle dance, which encodes two variables at once: the angle of the straight 'waggle run' gives direction (on the vertical comb in the dark hive, the run's angle from straight up stands for the flowers' angle from the sun's direction), and the duration of the waggle run gives distance. Supporting examples include ant pheromone trails (chemical messages that build up with traffic and fade unless reinforced), firefly flash patterns (species-specific codes), and cricket chirps. The monarch butterfly migration adds scale and navigation across generations, and is deliberately used as a contrast — remarkable behaviour that is NOT communication. Children should both DECODE and PRODUCE signals so the code is understood from both ends. Avoid over-anthropomorphising: insects signal, they do not 'talk' with words or conscious intent.

Common misconceptions

  • 'Bees talk / have a language like ours' — they signal information, without words or conscious intent.
  • 'The waggle dance only shows direction' — it encodes distance too (via duration).
  • 'Ant trails are permanent roads' — they are chemical signals that evaporate unless reinforced.
  • 'All fireflies flash the same' — patterns are species-specific codes.
  • 'One butterfly makes the whole migration round-trip' — the monarch migration spans multiple generations.

Useful representations

  • A waggle-dance decoder linking angle→direction and duration→distance.
  • An ant pheromone-trail that strengthens with traffic and fades over time.
  • A firefly flash-pattern matcher (species-specific codes).
  • A monarch migration map across a continent.

Teaching practices

  • Centre the idea that a signal carries INFORMATION — the waggle dance encodes two variables at once (direction and distance).
  • Let children decode AND produce signals so the code is understood from both ends.
  • Show pheromone trails as chemical messages that build up and fade, not permanent paths.
  • Avoid over-anthropomorphising — insects signal, they don't 'talk' with words or intent.
  • Use the monarch migration to add scale and navigation, connecting behaviour to survival.

Activities to try

  1. 1

    Decode and perform the waggle dance

    Why it works: The little dance is a real message that carries TWO pieces of information at once — which direction and how far — a decodable code, not just excited wiggling. Producing the dance as well as reading it shows the code works from both ends.

    1. Watch a forager bee perform a waggle dance: a straight 'waggle run' tilted at an angle, then a loop back, repeated over and over.
    2. Read the two pieces of information: use the ANGLE of the straight run from straight up on the comb to work out the direction to the flowers (that same angle measured from the sun's direction), and use how LONG each waggle run lasts to judge the distance.
    3. Set your heading at the dance's angle measured from the sun's direction and set a distance from the waggle duration, then 'fly out' to try to reach the flower patch.
    4. If you overshoot, fall short, or head the wrong way, watch the bee dance again and adjust your reading.
    5. Then swap roles: given a flower patch in a chosen position, perform the correct dance (right angle, right waggle length) so hive-mates could find it.
  2. 2

    Lay an ant trail that strengthens and fades

    Why it works: A pheromone trail is a chemical message: it carries 'food this way', builds up when reinforced by traffic, and evaporates when not — so it is a signal, not a fixed path.

    1. Draw a scent (pheromone) trail between the nest and a food source.
    2. Watch what happens as more ants travel the trail — notice it strengthens with traffic.
    3. Stop the traffic and observe the trail fade over time.
    4. Explain in your own words why a trail is NOT a permanent road and what information it carries to other ants.
  3. 3

    Match firefly flash patterns to species

    Why it works: Flashes are species-specific codes — a signal using light. Different species use different patterns, so the pattern itself carries meaning to the right receiver.

    1. Observe different firefly flash patterns (timing and sequence of flashes).
    2. Reproduce a given species' flash pattern.
    3. Match a flash pattern to the species that uses it, and explain who the signal is for and why (finding a mate).

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