Sun clocks in as migration key
نویسنده
چکیده
The mechanisms by which some animals are able to achieve astonishing feats of migration have often eluded researchers because of the difficulty of designing suitable experiments. Two Canadian researchers believe they now have a set-up to throw light on the flight of the monarch butterfly. Nigel Williams reports.
منابع مشابه
Neurobiology of Monarch Butterfly Migration.
Studies of the migration of the eastern North American monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) have revealed mechanisms behind its navigation. The main orientation mechanism uses a time-compensated sun compass during both the migration south and the remigration north. Daylight cues, such as the sun itself and polarized light, are processed through both eyes and integrated through intricate circuit...
متن کاملAntennal circadian clocks coordinate sun compass orientation in migratory monarch butterflies.
During their fall migration, Eastern North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use a time-compensated Sun compass to aid navigation to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico. It has been assumed that the circadian clock that provides time compensation resides in the brain, although this assumption has never been examined directly. Here, we show that the antennae are necessary...
متن کاملColdness Triggers Northward Flight in Remigrant Monarch Butterflies
Each fall, eastern North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) migrate from their northern range to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico. Fall migrants are in reproductive diapause, and they use a time-compensated sun compass to navigate during the long journey south. Eye-sensed directional cues from the daylight sky (e.g., the horizontal or azimuthal position of the sun) are...
متن کاملAnatomical basis of sun compass navigation I: the general layout of the monarch butterfly brain.
Each fall, eastern North American monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use a time-compensated sun compass to migrate to their overwintering grounds in central Mexico. The sun compass mechanism involves the neural integration of skylight cues with timing information from circadian clocks to maintain a constant heading. The neuronal substrates for the necessary interactions between compass neur...
متن کاملNavigational mechanisms of migrating monarch butterflies.
Recent studies of the iconic fall migration of monarch butterflies have illuminated the mechanisms behind their southward navigation while using a time-compensated sun compass. Skylight cues, such as the sun itself and polarized light, are processed through both eyes and are probably integrated in the brain's central complex, the presumed site of the sun compass. Time compensation is provided b...
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عنوان ژورنال:
- Current Biology
دوره 12 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2002