Researchers believe they have figured out a new component of monarch butterflies navigation system which allows them to migrate over 2,000 miles every.
Monarch butterflies migrate to specific groves of firs in central Mexico every year, but until now researchers didn't know how they were able to make their journey.
"Taken as a whole, our study reveals another fascinating aspect of the monarch butterfly migratory behavior," senior study author Steven Reppert, MD, the Higgins Family Professor of Neuroscience and distinguished professor of neurobiology at UMMS, said in a University of Massachusetts news release.
A time-compensated sun compass, which is located in the antennae, helps the monarch butterflies make their 2,000-mile migration southward, when daylight is present.
Researchers have been interested in seeing monarchs fly in the right direction when the sun is blocked by dense cloud cover. There are theories that in these types of situations the butterflies use geomagnetic cues in order to navigate, according to the release.
"Our study shows that monarchs use a sophisticated magnetic inclination compass system for navigation similar to that used by much larger-brained migratory vertebrates such as birds and sea turtles," Co-author Robert Gegear, PhD, assistant professor of biology and biotechnology at WPI, said in the news release.
Monarch cryptochromes (CRY) are a class of proteins that are sensitive to ultraviolet light and have the capability of restoring a light-dependent magnetic responses in the CRY-deficient Drosophila.
The researchers applied a number of wavelength-blocking filers to the lights to test the light dependency of the butterflies' compass. They determined that monarchs exposed only to light in wavelengths above 420nm exhibited an ability to find direction.
"Greater knowledge of the mechanisms underlying the fall migration may well aid in its preservation, currently threatened by climate change and by the continuing loss of milkweed and overwintering habitats. A new vulnerability to now consider is the potential disruption of the magnetic compass in the monarchs by human-induced electromagnetic noise, which can also affect geomagnetic orientation in migratory birds," said Reppert.
Their experiment showed that the monarch's magnetic compass relies on exposure to wavelengths found in ultraviolet light spectra, according to the release.
"For migratory monarchs, the inclination compass may serve as an important back up system when daylight cues are unavailable," Guerra said. "It may also augment hand-in-hand with the time-compensated sun compass to provide orientation and directionality throughout the migration process."
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