Evidence for a southward autumn migration of nocturnal noctuid moths in central Europe [RESEARCH ARTICLE]

David Dreyer, Basil el Jundi, Dmitry Kishkinev, Carina Suchentrunk, Lena Campostrini, Barrie J. Frost, Thomas Zechmeister, and Eric J. Warrant Insect migrations are spectacular natural events and resemble a remarkable relocation of biomass between two locations in space. Unlike the well-known migrations of daytime flying butterflies, such as the painted lady (Vanessa cardui) or the monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus), much less widely known are the migrations of nocturnal moths. These migrations – typically involving billions of moths from different taxa – have recently attracted considerable scientific attention. Nocturnal moth migrations have traditionally been investigated by light trapping and by observations in the wild, but in recent times a considerable improvement in our understanding of this phenomenon has come from studying insect orientation behaviour, using vertical-looking radar. In order to establish a new model organism to study compass mechanisms in migratory moths, we tethered each of two species of central European Noctuid moths in a flight simulator to study their flight bearings: the red underwing (Catocala nupta) and the large yellow underwing (Noctua pronuba). Both species had significantly oriented flight bearings under an unobscured view of the clear night sky and in the Earth's natural magnetic field. Red underwings oriented south-southeast, while large yellow underwings oriented southwest, both suggesting a southerly autumn migration to...
Source: Journal of Experimental Biology - Category: Biology Authors: Tags: Neuroethology RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research