Year: 2006
Type: article
Abstract: Monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) in North America migrate to and from Mexico. Black swallowtails (Papilio polyxenes) are non-migratory and travel locally. Two hypotheses have been suggested\nconcerning the navigation of monarchs: that the monarchs use an internal sun compass, or that they use a geomagnetic compass. The data collected by this research show that both species have the ability to use\ngeomagnetic navigation and that monarchs do, in fact, use geomagnetic navigation. Neutron activation analysis was used to assay iron concentrations by species, body parts, and sex. It was shown that the head had the highest iron concentrations of the body parts, with monarch females being higher than monarch males. The gender pattern was reversed in the black swallowtails. A strong magnet and insect pavilion was used in darkness and sunlight in different orientations to test the hypothesis that monarchs have a geomagnetic sensory system and use geomagnetic navigation. Monarchs were affected by the magnet in both sunlight and dark, while black swallowtails did not show conclusively that they use geomagnetic\nnavigation. These findings may have parallels in other migratory and non-migratory species of animals.
Authors: Alyssa LaRue, Steven Naber, J.W. Talnagi
Language: English
Subfield: Biophysics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2153974301