Black felt and a fake night sky: how scientists proved bogong moths use the stars to navigate to unknown lands

Fri, 20 Jun 2025 04:16:54 +1000

Andrew Pam <xanni [at] glasswings.com.au>

Andrew Pam
<https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/jun/18/bogong-moths-stars-navigate-australia-study>

"Australia’s bogong moths are guided by the stars as they navigate up to
1,000km to a place they’ve never been before, new research has concluded,
making them the first invertebrates confirmed to use celestial navigation.

Each year in spring, bogong moths emerge from their breeding grounds in the
country’s south-east and migrate to the mountainous caves and rocky crevices of
the Australian Alps to escape the summer heat.

In autumn, they return to their breeding grounds to reproduce and die.

But how do the moths know what direction to fly? And how do they know when
they’ve arrived at their destination?"

Cheers,
       *** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net               Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/                 Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/            Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/               Manager, Serious Cybernetics

Comment via email

Home E-Mail Sponsors Index Search About Us