Dung beetles navigate by the stars
JAN 25, 2013
DOI: 10.1063/PT.5.026715
BBC : Humans, birds, and seals are known to use the stars to help them move around at night. Now it looks like certain insects may have that ability as well. African dung beetles roll dung into round balls and then push them somewhere to eat later. Because they can operate at night as well as during the day, Marie Dacke of Lund University in Sweden wondered how they find their way in the dark. She and her colleagues brought some beetles to the Johannesburg planetarium, where they watched the bugs perform under different types of star fields. Because they can push the balls in straight lines under starry skies but not when skies are overcast, the researchers conclude that they somehow get their bearings from the stars, in particular the band of light provided by the Milky Way. The researchers report their findings in the journal Current Biology.
© 2013 American Institute of Physics
