This study discusses research into the navigation of Bogong moths, an iconic Australian insect. It highlights their long-distance nocturnal migration and the discovery that they utilize a stellar compass for orientation, a unique finding for invertebrates. The research further explains that these moths can also rely on the Earth's magnetic field when celestial cues are unavailable, demonstrating a robust dual-compass system. Experiments using flight simulators and intracellular brain recordings reveal how visual neurons in the moth's brain respond to specific sky orientations, contributing to their ability to maintain an inherited migratory direction regardless of seasonal changes or nightly stellar movements. This study sheds light on the complex sensory mechanisms underlying insect navigation to distant, previously unvisited locations.
Reference: Dreyer, D., Adden, A., Chen, H. et al. Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night. Nature (2025). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09135-3
