Bogong moths resting in caves in the Snowy Mountains. Photo by Eric Warrant. The Conversation.
By Jo Nova
First insects to use the stars to navigate?
Flight paths of Bobong moths. | The Conversation.
Each year thousands of Bogong moths are born all over Eastern Australia. Somehow they fly 1,000 kilometers to caves in the Snowy Mountains that they have never seen. Once inside, they hang around and do an insect form of hibernation in the cool Alpine caves through the heat of summer. When autumn comes, they fly 1,000 kilometers back to where they came from so they can breed, and keel over. Next year their children make the exact same trip.
Researchers managed to catch some moths and put them in flight simulators (for real) where Earths magnetic field was neutralized, so they could figure out if the moths could navigate without it. Somehow they “tethered” the moths, and showed them night sky and lo’, behold, the moths still tried to fly in the right direction. When the sky was flipped, the moths reversed course, and when the stars were randomized, the moths were confused.
Ponder that the stars revolve through the […]
via JoNova
June 19, 2025 at 09:25PM
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