Anatomical basis of sun compass navigation II: The neuronal composition of the central complex of the monarch butterfly

2012 ◽  
Vol 521 (2) ◽  
pp. 267-298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Heinze ◽  
Jeremy Florman ◽  
Surainder Asokaraj ◽  
Basil el Jundi ◽  
Steven M. Reppert
Keyword(s):  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Anatomical Basis ◽  
Compass Navigation

scholarly journals Anatomical basis of sun compass navigation II: The neuronal composition of the central complex of the monarch butterfly

2012 ◽  
Vol 521 (2) ◽  
pp. Spc1-Spc1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stanley Heinze ◽  
Jeremy Florman ◽  
Surainder Asokaraj ◽  
Basil el Jundi ◽  
Steven M. Reppert
Keyword(s):  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Anatomical Basis ◽  
Compass Navigation

scholarly journals Stimulus-dependent orientation strategies in monarch butterflies

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Myriam Franzke ◽  
Christian Kraus ◽  
Maria Gayler ◽  
David Dreyer ◽  
Keram Pfeiffer ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Visual Cues ◽  
Danaus Plexippus ◽  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Orientation Behavior ◽  
Compass Orientation ◽  
Monarch Butterflies ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Bright Stripe ◽  
Flight Route

Insects are well-known for their ability to keep track of their heading direction based on a combination of skylight cues and visual landmarks. This allows them to navigate back to their nest, disperse throughout unfamiliar environments, as well as migrate over large distances between their breeding and non-breeding habitats. The monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) for instance is known for its annual southward migration from North America to certain trees in Central Mexico. To maintain a constant flight route, these butterflies use a time-compensated sun compass for orientation which is processed in a region in the brain, termed the central complex. However, to successfully complete their journey, the butterflies' brain must generate a multitude of orientation strategies, allowing them to dynamically switch from sun-compass orientation to a tactic behavior toward a certain target. To study if monarch butterflies exhibit different orientation modes and if they can switch between them, we observed the orientation behavior of tethered flying butterflies in a flight simulator while presenting different visual cues to them. We found that the butterflies' behavior depended on the presented visual stimulus. Thus, while a dark stripe was used for flight stabilization, a bright stripe was fixated by the butterflies in their frontal visual field. If we replaced a bright stripe by a simulated sun stimulus, the butterflies switched their orientation behavior and exhibited compass orientation. Taken together, our data show that monarch butterflies rely on and switch between different orientation modes, allowing them to adjust orientation to the actual behavioral demands of the animal.

scholarly journals Connecting the Navigational Clock to Sun Compass Input in Monarch Butterfly Brain

Neuron ◽  
2005 ◽  
Vol 46 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-467 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ivo Sauman ◽  
Adriana D. Briscoe ◽  
Haisun Zhu ◽  
Dingding Shi ◽  
Oren Froy ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Sun Compass

scholarly journals Circadian plasticity in honey bees

2020 ◽  
Vol 42 (2) ◽  
pp. 22-26 ◽  
Author(s):  
Katharina Beer ◽  
Guy Bloch
Keyword(s):  
Circadian Rhythms ◽  
Social Organization ◽  
Honey Bees ◽  
Current Understanding ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Dance Communication ◽  
Support Time ◽  
Compass Navigation

Circadian rhythms of about a day are ubiquitous in animals and considered functionally significant. Honey bees show remarkable circadian plasticity that is related to the complex social organization of their societies. Forager bees show robust circadian rhythms that support time-compensated sun-compass navigation, dance communication and timing visits to flowers. Nest-dwelling nurse bees care for the young brood around the clock. Here, we review our current understanding of the molecular and neuroanatomical mechanisms underlying this remarkable natural plasticity in circadian rhythms.

scholarly journals State-dependent egocentric and allocentric heading representation in the monarch butterfly brain

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Jerome Beetz ◽  
Christian Kraus ◽  
Myriam Franzke ◽  
David Dreyer ◽  
Martin F. Strube-Bloss ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Reference Frame ◽  
Reference Frames ◽  
Danaus Plexippus ◽  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Central Complex ◽  
Dependent Manner ◽  
The Sun ◽  
Monarch Butterflies ◽  
State Dependent ◽  
Allocentric Reference Frame

AbstractHead direction can be represented in a self-centered egocentric or a viewpoint-invariant allocentric reference frame. Using the most efficient representation is especially crucial for migrating animals, like monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) that use the sun for orientation. With tetrode recordings from the brain of tethered flying monarch butterflies, we examined the reference frame in which insects encode heading. We show that compass neurons switch their reference frame in a state-dependent manner. In quiescence, they encode sun-bearing angles, allowing the butterfly to map the environment within an egocentric frame. However, during flight, the same neurons encode heading within an allocentric frame. This switch converts the sun from a local to a global cue, an ideal strategy for maintaining a migratory heading over large distance.One-Sentence SummaryHeading information is encoded in different state-dependent reference frames in the monarch butterfly central complex

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