Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year

These Tiny Moths Use the Stars to Guide Them Hundreds of Miles

According to a study published in the journal Nature, bogong moths, like birds, use a stellar compass for their migration. “Each spring, billions of Bogong moths escape hot conditions across southeast Australia by migrating up to 1,000 km to a place that they have never previously visited—a limited number of cool caves in the Australian Alps, historically used for aestivating over summer,” the study abstract reads.  “At the beginning of autumn, …

Tiny brown moth navigates 600 miles using stars — just like humans and birds

Native to Australia, tiny Bogong moths travel hundreds of miles in an astonishing annual migration by using the starry night sky to navigate, according to a new study.

Migrating bogong moths use stars and Earth's magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year

It's a warm January summer afternoon, and as I traverse the flower-strewn western slopes of Australia's highest mountain, Mount Kosciuszko, I am on the lookout for a telltale river of boulders that winds its way down into the alpine valleys below.

Australian moth becomes first-known insect to use stars as GPS

When spring arrives, large moth swarms fly up to 1000 kilometers (roughly 621 miles) from their breeding grounds across southeast Australia.

Migrating bogong moths use the stars and Earth’s magnetic field to find ancestral summer caves each year

Australia’s iconic bogong moths are the first creatures other than humans and some birds known to navigate by the night sky.