Unraveling Navigational Strategies in Migratory Insects

Overview

Journal Curr Opin Neurobiol

Specialties Biology
Neurology

Date 2011 Dec 14

PMID 22154565

Citations 21

Authors

Christine Merlin

Stanley Heinze

Steven M Reppert

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Long-distance migration is a strategy some animals use to survive a seasonally changing environment. To reach favorable grounds, migratory animals have evolved sophisticated navigational mechanisms that rely on a map and compasses. In migratory insects, the existence of a map sense (sense of position) remains poorly understood, but recent work has provided new insights into the mechanisms some compasses use for maintaining a constant bearing during long-distance navigation. The best-studied directional strategy relies on a time-compensated sun compass, used by diurnal insects, for which neural circuits have begun to be delineated. Yet, a growing body of evidence suggests that migratory insects may also rely on other compasses that use night sky cues or the Earth's magnetic field. Those mechanisms are ripe for exploration.

Citing Articles

Theoretical principles explain the structure of the insect head direction circuit.

Vilimelis Aceituno P, DallOsto D, Pisokas I Elife. 2024; 13.

PMID: 38814703 PMC: 11139481. DOI: 10.7554/eLife.91533.

Weighting of Celestial and Terrestrial Cues in the Monarch Butterfly Central Complex.

Nguyen T, Beetz M, Merlin C, Pfeiffer K, El Jundi B Front Neural Circuits. 2022; 16:862279.

PMID: 35847485 PMC: 9285895. DOI: 10.3389/fncir.2022.862279.

Model and Non-model Insects in Chronobiology.

Beer K, Helfrich-Forster C Front Behav Neurosci. 2020; 14:601676.

PMID: 33328925 PMC: 7732648. DOI: 10.3389/fnbeh.2020.601676.

Monarch Butterfly Migration Moving into the Genetic Era.

Merlin C, Iiams S, Lugena A Trends Genet. 2020; 36(9):689-701.

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Multimodal interactions in insect navigation.

Buehlmann C, Mangan M, Graham P Anim Cogn. 2020; 23(6):1129-1141.

PMID: 32323027 PMC: 7700066. DOI: 10.1007/s10071-020-01383-2.

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