Butterfly Flight Simulater Tracks Monarchs
Scientist have figured out how the Monarch butterfly finds its way to Mexico on a 2000 trip.
"A series of experiments has revealed how this tiny insect is able to marry a sophisticated biological clock with the sun's position so that it can fly across the North American continent without losing its way.
"Monarch butterflies migrate between their wintering roosts in central Mexico to their summer breeding grounds as far north as the US-Canadian border. Scientists have now discovered that they employ an internal biological clock that enables them to use the sun as a reliable compass no matter what time of day it is.
"This form of navigation is so accurate that it allows some monarch butterflies to return to the same trees in the Mexican mountains that were used by their great, great grandparents as roosting sites the previous winter.
"Scientists, led by Steven Reppert of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, used a butterfly flight simulator to discover whether the insects had an internal clock that could accurately follow the patterns of night and day - a so-called circadian rhythm. 'We have shown the requirement of the circadian clock for monarch butterfly migration. When the clock is disrupted, monarchs are unable to orient toward Mexico,' Dr Reppert said. 'Without proper navigation, their migration to the south wouldn't occur and that generation of butterflies would not survive.""
Scientist have figured out how the Monarch butterfly finds its way to Mexico on a 2000 trip.
"A series of experiments has revealed how this tiny insect is able to marry a sophisticated biological clock with the sun's position so that it can fly across the North American continent without losing its way.
"Monarch butterflies migrate between their wintering roosts in central Mexico to their summer breeding grounds as far north as the US-Canadian border. Scientists have now discovered that they employ an internal biological clock that enables them to use the sun as a reliable compass no matter what time of day it is.
"This form of navigation is so accurate that it allows some monarch butterflies to return to the same trees in the Mexican mountains that were used by their great, great grandparents as roosting sites the previous winter.
"Scientists, led by Steven Reppert of the University of Massachusetts Medical School, used a butterfly flight simulator to discover whether the insects had an internal clock that could accurately follow the patterns of night and day - a so-called circadian rhythm. 'We have shown the requirement of the circadian clock for monarch butterfly migration. When the clock is disrupted, monarchs are unable to orient toward Mexico,' Dr Reppert said. 'Without proper navigation, their migration to the south wouldn't occur and that generation of butterflies would not survive.""
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