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

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 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 Neural Integration Underlying a Time-Compensated Sun Compass in the Migratory Monarch Butterfly

Cell Reports ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 683-691 ◽  
Author(s):  
Eli Shlizerman ◽  
James Phillips-Portillo ◽  
Daniel B. Forger ◽  
Steven M. Reppert
Keyword(s):  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
Sun Compass ◽  
Neural Integration

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

The Safe Aircraft Competition, The Sun Compass, and more

1930 ◽  
Vol 142 (3) ◽  
pp. 232-234
Author(s):  
Alexander Klemin
Keyword(s):  
The Sun ◽  
Sun Compass

scholarly journals Monarch butterfly and milkweed declines substantially predate the use of genetically modified crops

2019 ◽  
Vol 116 (8) ◽  
pp. 3006-3011 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. H. Boyle ◽  
H. J. Dalgleish ◽  
J. R. Puzey
Keyword(s):  
Genetically Modified ◽  
Danaus Plexippus ◽  
Genetically Modified Crops ◽  
Monarch Butterfly ◽  
The United States ◽  
Gm Crops ◽  
Herbicide Resistant ◽  
The Past ◽  
Scientific Attention ◽  
Herbicide Use

Monarch butterfly (Danaus plexippus) decline over the past 25 years has received considerable public and scientific attention, in large part because its decline, and that of its milkweed (Asclepias spp.) host plant, have been linked to genetically modified (GM) crops and associated herbicide use. Here, we use museum and herbaria specimens to extend our knowledge of the dynamics of both monarchs and milkweeds in the United States to more than a century, from 1900 to 2016. We show that both monarchs and milkweeds increased during the early 20th century and that recent declines are actually part of a much longer-term decline in both monarchs and milkweed beginning around 1950. Herbicide-resistant crops, therefore, are clearly not the only culprit and, likely, not even the primary culprit: Not only did monarch and milkweed declines begin decades before GM crops were introduced, but other variables, particularly a decline in the number of farms, predict common milkweed trends more strongly over the period studied here.

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