Tag : Butterflies

Cincinnati (Ohio): Researchers at the University of Cincinnati have found that light pollution can disorient monarch butterflies, which travel as far as Canada to Mexico and back during their multigenerational migration. The research was published in the journal, 'iScience'. Researchers found that butterflies roosting at night near artificial illumination such as a porch or streetlight can become disoriented the next day because the light interferes with their circadian rhythms. Artificial light can impede the molecular processes responsible for the butterfly's remarkable navigational ability and trigger the butterfly to take wing when it should be resting. "We found that even with a single work light that you find at a construction site, monarch butterflies treat that like it's the sun," UC assistant professor Patrick Guerra said. With their erratic, circuitous movements taking them to and fro across your garden, it might be hard to imagine monarch butterflies sticking to a rigid flight plan. But their migrations take some monarch populations thousands of miles to the same forests in Mexico where they spend the winter. Now researchers want to know whether light pollution is impeding this amazing cross-country trek. "It's an important question given that many migrants fly through urban areas," co-author and UC master's graduate Samuel Stratton said. "Getting some ecological data would be really helpful to seeing what impacts light pollution can have on orientation and migratory outcomes," he added. Monarchs rely on the darkness of night to process proteins key to their internal compass. These help the insects tell which direction to fly to reach their southern wintering grounds and return. "The animal keeps track of day and night ...