Bogong Moths Are First Bugs Known to Use Stars for Long-Distance Travel
How did your country report this? Share your view in the comments.
Diverging Reports Breakdown
Bogong Moths Are First Bugs Known to Use Stars for Long-Distance Travel
Bogong moths migrate up to 621 miles (1,000 kilometers) from southeast Australia to spend the summer in cool caves in the Australian Alps. A team led by David Dreyer, a visiting research fellow in sensory biology at Lund University, suggests that the moths may use the starry sky to navigate in the right direction. If this proves to be true, it would make the Australian Bogong moth the first known invertebrate to “use the stars for discerning specific geographical directions (that is, a direction relative to north) for directed long-range navigation to a distant goal,” the team wrote in a new study. The researchers theorize that the moth can likely see the Milky Way, while constellations, the Moon, and potentially dark features on the horizon might also serve as reliable navigational cues.
A team led by David Dreyer, a visiting research fellow in sensory biology at Lund University, suggests that Bogong moths may use the starry sky—among other tools—to navigate in the right direction. If this proves to be true, Dreyer and his colleagues claim it would make the Australian Bogong moth the first known invertebrate to “use the stars for discerning specific geographical directions (that is, a direction relative to north) for directed long-range navigation to a distant goal,” the team wrote in a new study, published today in the journal Nature.
In 2018, the same researchers suggested that Bogong moths reach their destinations by both sensing Earth’s magnetic field and by using unknown visual landmarks. In fact, as noted by a Nature News and Views article, some animals rely on several different navigational methods. To test whether the night sky plays a role in guiding the moths, the team captured the insects at the start of their migration and placed them in a planetarium-like simulator.
“By tethering spring and autumn migratory moths in a flight simulator, we found that, under naturalistic moonless night skies and in a nulled geomagnetic field (disabling the moth’s known magnetic sense), moths flew in their seasonally appropriate migratory directions,” the researchers explained in the study.
As ancient seafarers would attest, the predictable positions of stars make them a reliable navigational tool. Nonetheless, scientists have previously documented only some night-migratory birds using starlight to find a specific geographical direction. Dung Beetles use the stars to travel in a straight line, but they are not migratory insects—they’re not using stellar cues for long-distance travel like birds and Bogong moths do.
By analyzing the moth’s brain, the scientists also demonstrated that neurons linked to vision “responded specifically to rotations of the night sky and were tuned to a common sky orientation,” showing the greatest activity “when the moth was headed southwards.” In other words, their brains appear to be wired to pick up on stellar cues.
However, the parts of the starry sky that moths specifically rely on for directions remain a mystery, especially since it is unclear whether moths can even see individual stars. The researchers theorize that the moths can likely see the Milky Way, while constellations, the Moon, and potentially dark features on the horizon might also serve as reliable navigational cues.
Ultimately, the study builds on the team’s previous research by further illuminating the Bogong moth’s directional toolkit. “Our results suggest that Bogong moths use stellar cues and the Earth’s magnetic field to create a robust compass system for long-distance nocturnal navigation towards a specific destination,” the researchers concluded.
The next time intense solar activity causes GPS blackouts, I bet we’ll all be wishing we were Bogong moths.
Moth uses stars to navigate long distances, scientists discover
A species of Australian moth travels up to a thousand kilometres every summer using the stars to navigate, scientists say. It is the first time this talent has been discovered in an invertebrate covering vast distances. Bogong moths embark on the long night-time flight from their home on the country’s eastern coast to the cool inland shelter of caves in the Australian Alps. Researchers believe that near the end of the moth’s long migration, they start noticing clues they are getting close to their mountain refuge. The only other invertebrates known to use stars for orientation are dung beetles — but that is over very short distances, the researchers say. The Milky Way is brighter in the Southern Hemisphere than in the north, which could offer a clue as to how the moths use it to navigate south, they say. They believe a specific “odourant compound” which emanates from the caves “seems to act as a navigational beacon”
When temperatures start rising every year, Bogong moths embark on the long night-time flight from their home on the country’s eastern coast to the cool inland shelter of caves in the Australian Alps.
It has recently been discovered that they can use Earth’s magnetic field like a compass to stay on track during their trip of up to 1,000 kilometres (620 miles).
ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement
Now, a study published in the journal Nature has found that the moths can also use the light from the stars and the Milky Way to find their way through the dark.
“This is the first invertebrate that’s known to be able to use the stars for that purpose,” study co-author Eric Warrant of Sweden’s Lund University told AFP.
The only other invertebrate known to use stars for orientation are dung beetles — but that is over very short distances, Warrant said.
Out of all the animal kingdom, only some birds, possibly seals and of course humans can use starlight to navigate long distance.
Bogong moths, which are around three centimetres long and are named after the Indigenous Australian word for brown, now join that list.
ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement
– ‘Flight simulator’ –
To study this phenomenon, the international team of researchers put some Bogong moths in a small enclosure and projected different maps of the night sky onto its ceiling.
The moth was tethered to a rod connected to the top of the enclosure, which precisely recorded which directions it tried to fly in.
This “flight simulator” first confirmed that Bogong moths can in fact navigate using their internal magnetic compass, lead study author David Dreyer, also of Lund University, told AFP.
Then the researchers removed the effect of Earth’s magnetic field in the enclosure.
ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement
“To our surprise,” the moths were still able to find the right direction, Dreyer said.
When they rotated the sky 180 degrees, the moths changed their flight to follow along.
And when the researchers projected weird, incorrect maps of the night sky, the moths became erratic and lost.
This reinforced that the insects can not only navigate by the sky, but can follow along during the night when the relative positions of the stars shift along with Earth’s rotation.
– Mysteries abound –
No one knows exactly how the Bogong moth manages this feat.
One theory is that they sometimes “cross-check” their direction with their magnetic compass, Dreyer said.
ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement
Another question is exactly which stars the moths are using to navigate.
In the lab, the researchers monitored 30 neurons involved in the moth’s vision, coordination and navigation.
Developing the system of non-magnetic electrodes “cost me a fortune but it was worth the investment,” Warrant said.
The neurons became particularly active at the sight of the long, bright stripe of the Milky Way, as well as the Carina Nebula.
The Milky Way is brighter in the Southern Hemisphere than in the north, Warrant pointed out.
“The intensity of that stripe grows as you go from the northern part of the sky to the southern part,” which could offer a clue as to how the moths use it to navigate south, Warrant said.
ADVERTISEMENT Advertisement
Another mystery is how the moths know when to head south when summer arrives.
Warrant, who is supervising further research on this subject, said one option is that this knowledge was simply “something that the parents hand to their children”.
The researchers believe that near the end of the moth’s long migration, they start noticing clues they are getting close to their mountain refuge.
Warrant said he has identified a specific “odour compound” which emanates from the caves.
This smell “seems to act as a navigational beacon right at the very end of the journey,” he added.
After the moths have seen out the sweltering summer, they return to their coastal birthplace to reproduce before dying.
pcl-dl/jj
Stargazing flight: how Bogong moths use the night sky to navigate hundreds of kilometres
Australia’s iconic Bogong moth uses constellations of stars and the Milky Way to navigate hundreds of kilometres across the country during its annual migration. It is the first known invertebrate to rely on a stellar compass for long-distance travel. The discovery could inform technologies in robotics, drone navigation, and even conservation strategies for species threatened by habitat loss or climate change. Each spring, billions of Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) emerge from breeding grounds across southeast Australia and fly up to 1000 kilometres to a small number of caves and rocky outcrops in the Snowy Mountains. The research sheds new light on one of nature”s great migration mysteries, involving approximately four million moths each year. The study underscores the importance of protecting migratory pathways and the dark skies these moths rely on. The team also delved into the neurological basis of this behaviour, identifying specialised neurons in the moth’s brain that respond to the orientation of the starry sky. These cells, found in brain regions responsible for navigation and steering, fire most strongly when the moth is facing southwards.
Media release
University of South Australia
In a world-first discovery, researchers have shown that Australia’s iconic Bogong moth uses constellations of stars and the Milky Way to navigate hundreds of kilometres across the country during its annual migration – making it the first known invertebrate to rely on a stellar compass for long-distance travel.
The landmark study, published today (Thursday 19 June) in Nature, reveals how this unassuming nocturnal moth combines celestial navigation with Earth’s magnetic field to pinpoint a specific destination it has never visited before: the cool alpine caves of the Snowy Mountains, where it hibernates for the summer.
Led by an international team of scientists from Lund University, the Australian National University (ANU), the University of South Australia (UniSA) and other global institutions, the research sheds new light on one of nature’s great migration mysteries, involving approximately four million moths each year.
“Until now, we knew that some birds and even humans could use the stars to navigate long distances, but this is the first time that it’s been proven in an insect,” says Lund University Professor of Zoology, Eric Warrant, who is also a Visiting Fellow at the ANU and an Adjunct Professor at UniSA.
“Bogong moths are incredibly precise. They use the stars as a compass to guide them over vast distances, adjusting their bearing based on the season and time of night.”
Each spring, billions of Bogong moths (Agrotis infusa) emerge from breeding grounds across southeast Australia and fly up to 1000 kilometres to a small number of caves and rocky outcrops in the Australian Alps.
The moths lie dormant in the cool, dark shelters throughout summer, and in autumn make the return journey to breed and die.
Using sophisticated flight simulators and brain recordings in controlled, magnetically neutral environments, the researchers tested how moths orient themselves under different sky conditions.
When presented with natural starry skies and no magnetic field, they consistently flew in the correct migratory direction for the season – southward in spring, northward in autumn.
When the starry skies were rotated 180 degrees, the moths reversed direction accordingly, but when the stars were scrambled, their orientation vanished.
“This proves they are not just flying towards the brightest light or following a simple visual cue,” says Prof Warrant. “They’re reading specific patterns in the night sky to determine a geographic direction, just like migratory birds do.”
Interestingly, when stars were obscured by clouds, the moths maintained their direction using only the Earth’s magnetic field. This dual compass system ensures reliable navigation even in variable conditions.
The team also delved into the neurological basis of this behaviour, identifying specialised neurons in the moth’s brain that respond to the orientation of the starry sky. These cells, found in brain regions responsible for navigation and steering, fire most strongly when the moth is facing southwards.
“This kind of directional tuning shows that the Bogong moth brain encodes celestial information in a surprisingly sophisticated way. It’s a remarkable example of complex navigational ability packed into a tiny insect brain.”
Researchers say the discovery could inform technologies in robotics, drone navigation, and even conservation strategies for species threatened by habitat loss or climate change.
Bogong moth populations have declined sharply in recent years, promoting their listing as vulnerable.
The study underscores the importance of protecting migratory pathways and the dark skies these moths rely on.
“This is not just about a moth ̶ it’s about how animals read the world around them,” says Prof Warrant. “The night sky has guided human explorers for millennia. Now we know that it guides moths, too.”
Co-author Professor Javaan Chahl, a remote sensing engineer from the University of South Australia, made headlines in August 2024 using the discoveries from a previous study led by Lund University involving dung beetles, who use the Milky Way as a reference point to roll balls of dung in straight lines. Prof Chahl’s team modelled the same technique used by dung beetles to develop an AI sensor for robot navigation in low light.
The Nature paper “Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night” is authored by researchers from Europe, the UK, China, Australia, Canada and Australia. DOI: 10.1038/s41586-025-09135-3
A video produced by the Australian Academy of Science, explaining Prof Warrant’s research, is available at: www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqiG_xBUFE0. Prof Warrant was elected a Corresponding Member of the Academy in 2024.