Bumblebees like ball games

to play. Well, some do. Lots of mammals and birds, particularly when young, engage in behaviour that, to use a common check-list: provides no obvious adaptive outcome such as access to food, shelter or a mate; is voluntary, spontaneous and rewarding in and of itself; is repeated, but not stereotypically; and appears to be pleasant and conducted when the animal is relaxed.But bumblebees? Apparently they play too, according to work just published in by Hiruni Samadi Galpayage Dona and Lars Chittka of Queen Mary University, in London. Specifically, if given the opportunity, they will play a type of football. Admittedly, their version of this is not a team game. And the balls involved are pretty-much the same size as the insects. But, to a human observer armed with the check-list, they give every impression that they are enjoying the bumblebee equivalent of a kickabout.