They cover up to a thousand kilometers, use stars as navigation

Every year, when the temperatures begin to rise, the Bogong moths living in Australia (their name means brown color in the local language) set off in a long, night flight from their home on the east coast of the country to a cooler shelter in the Australian Alps caves. Recently, it has been discovered that insects are able to use the magnetic field of the Earth like a compass so as not to deviate from the route during a journey of up to 1000 km.

However, this is not the only method that Bogong (Latin moths. Agrotis Infusa) They use to stay on the right road. In a study published in the journal “Nature”, scientists have shown that insects can use the light of stars and milk path to find a way in the dark.

“This is the first known invertebrate who is able to use the stars for this purpose,” said AFP press agency co -author of the study Eric Warrant from the University of Lund, Sweden. He added that the only other invertebrates, which are known to use stars for orientation, are manure beetles, but they do it only on short distances. As for vertebrates, only some birds, probably seals and people can boast of similar skills.

To more accurately examine the interesting skill of the darkness of Bogong, an international team of scientists placed several individuals in a small room and displayed various maps of the night sky on the ceiling. Insects were attached to the rod connected to the upper part of the housing, which precisely recorded the directions in which the animals tried to fly.

In this way, scientists confirmed that Bogong's moths can actually navigate with an internal magnetic compass, “said David Dreyer from the University of Lund, the main author of the study. Then scientists removed the influence of the earthly magnetic field in the housing. The behavior of their darkness amazed.

“To our surprise, the moths were still able to find the right direction,” Dreyer said.

When scientists turned the sky's map 180 degrees, the insects changed the direction of the flight. Then the researchers displayed strange, incorrect maps of the night sky – then the moths began to get lost. In this way, specialists confirmed that insects can not only navigate in the sky, but also follow him at night, when the relative positions of the stars change with the rotation of the earth.

Although scientists have confirmed the interesting ability of the dark, they do not know what it results from. As Dreyer said, one of the theories assumes that insects sometimes “check” their direction using a magnetic compass. It is still unknown, however, which exactly moth stars use for navigation. In the laboratory, scientists monitored thirty neurons involved in vision, coordination and navigation.

“The development of a non -magnetic electrodes system cost me a fortune, but it was worth it,” Warrant admitted.

It turned out that the neurons of Bogong's darkness are becoming particularly active at the sight of the long, bright lane lane and Carina nebula. Warrant explained that the intensity of this belt increases as the north to the southern part of the sky increases, which can be a clue how moths use it to navigate south.

Another secret is where the moths know when to go south when summer comes. Warrant said that one of the options is that this knowledge is passed down from parent to child.

Scientists believe that when approaching the end of their journey, moths begin to notice the tips that they are approaching their mountain shelter. Warrant admitted that he identified a specific smell that emanates from the caves. It seems to act like a navigation signal, meaning the end of the journey.

After spending summer in the Australian Alps caves, moths return to the birthplace on the coast, where they reproduce and die.