Now, a new study suggests that these scouts have genetic brain patterns that set them apart from other bees.

“We found massive differences in brain gene expressions between scouts and nonscouts,” said Gene E. Robinson, a geneticist at the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, and an author of the study, which appears in the current issue of the journal Science.

The scientists also found that by increasing or inhibiting certain chemicals in the brain, they could encourage scouting behavior in otherwise timid bees, and suppress it in the thrill seekers. “By manipulating some neurochemical pathways, we could increase the chances of scouting behavior,” Dr. Robinson said.

That behavior, he added, has analogues in human society. Just as human novelty seekers run the gamut from bold leaders to drug takers to enthusiasts for extreme sports like bungee jumping, the new research indicates that scouting bees also have a range of brain variations. “We find this intriguing parallel, and we see these molecular similarities,” Dr. Robinson said.

The chemicals that seem to be connected to scouting activity include catecholamine, glutamate and gamma-aminobutyric acid — all chemicals that are also involved in regulating thrill-seeking behavior in humans and other vertebrates.

The researchers think these molecular pathways evolved similarly in bees and humans.