Author: Sean Krivitsky, Class of 2026

Figure 1. Clustering formation of bogong moths following migration

Many different species of animals have been observed to perform migratory travels for a variety of reasons, including searching for food, being influenced by changes in climate, or finding a safe breeding ground. These animals do so using unique methods of navigation–some may learn from previous generations’ migration patterns. In contrast, others use their ability to sense the earth’s magnetic field or interpret different patterns of polarized light. One such species capable of performing impressive migrations of up to 1,000 kilometers is the bogong moth. This moth species, native to Australia, flies to high alpine caves in the spring and returns to its breeding grounds in the fall. Interestingly, given that these moths die at their breeding grounds after their return migration, bogong moth offspring cannot learn the direction of their migration from previous generations, leaving an open question as to how exactly they navigate this extensive flight path.

Recently, researchers from the University of Lund in Sweden discovered that bogong moths are capable of using a genetically encoded stellar compass to navigate their annual migration path–the first invertebrate shown to do so for long-range navigation. To better understand this ability, they captured moths in the middle of their migration and placed them into a planetarium-style flight simulator of the Australian starry night sky. By disabling the effects of the magnetic field and altering the position of the stars in the sky, the researchers observed marked changes in the moths’ flight paths in accordance with the manipulations made to the stellar cues. 

Furthermore, the moths’ neural responses were recorded during further migration simulations. This revealed preferential firing of certain interneurons within brain regions important for processing visual cues, such as the central complex, when the moths were oriented in their canonical migration direction. This evidence supports the idea that these moths are not learning their proper migration patterns but are, in fact, inheriting the instructions to use celestial cues for navigation through a key subset of visual interneurons.

This study provides crucial evidence of the first discovered instance of an invertebrate capable of long-range celestial navigation. Understanding the methods by which this species has developed its ability to follow complex migration patterns is an essential step to learning more about animal neuroscience, collective social behaviors, and how behaviors such as navigation can be affected by human influence on the environment.

Work’s Cited:

[1] Dreyer, D., Adden, A., Chen, H., Frost, B., Mouritsen, H., Xu, J., Green, K., Whitehouse, M., Chahl, J., Wallace, J., Hu, G., Foster, J., Heinze, S., & Warrant, E. (2025). Bogong moths use a stellar compass for long-distance navigation at night. Nature, 643(8073), 994–1000. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-025-09135-3 

[2] Image retrieved from: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:CSIRO_ScienceImage_15_Huddled_Migrating_Bogong_Moths.jpg