Evidence for a southward autumn migration of nocturnal noctuid moths in central Europe

• Published in: Journal of experimental biology Vol. 221; no. Pt 24
• Main Authors: Dreyer, David, El Jundi, Basil, Kishkinev, Dmitry, Suchentrunk, Carina, Campostrini, Lena, Frost, Barrie J, Zechmeister, Thomas, Warrant, Eric J
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England 14.12.2018
• Subjects: Biologi; Biological Sciences; Compass sense; Evolutionary Biology; Evolutionsbiologi; Insect migration; Moth migration; Natural Sciences; Naturvetenskap; Navigation; Noctuid; Orientation; Zoologi; Zoology; Navigation; Compass sense; Orientation; Moth migration; Insect migration; Noctuid
• ISSN: 0022-0949; 1477-9145; 1477-9145
• DOI: 10.1242/jeb.179218

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 ( ) or the monarch butterfly ( ), 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 ( ) and the large yellow underwing ( ). 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 towards the Mediterranean. Interestingly, large yellow underwings became disoriented on humid (foggy) nights while red underwings remained oriented. We found no evidence in either species for a time-independent sky compass mechanism as previously suggested for the large yellow underwing.