Lead researcher Prof Eli Shlizerman, from the University of Washington, explained that, as a mathematician, he wants to know how neurobiological systems are wired and what rules we can learn from them.
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“We wanted to understand how the monarch is processing these different types of information to yield this constant behavior – flying southwest each fall”, he said in a news release.
Usually, Monarch butterflies use its large and complex eyes to track. To make the internal compass point in the opposite direction, the neural connections that transmit information about the time and the position of the sun are flip-flopped, making it easy for the creatures to complete the migration in reverse.
A butterfly’s internal clock – like a human’s – is controlled by the rhythmic expression of key genes.
Researchers from the University of MA and the University of Washington (UW) have found a way to unlock the secret of how monarch butterflies are able to navigate through vast distances during their annual migration.
Dr Shlizerman added: “We created a model that incorporated this information – how the antennae and eyes send this information to the brain”.
Then they used that data to create a circuit model to show the neural control mechanisms – for the “clock” and “sun position” – that help the butterfly point itself southwest.
Hence, if a monarch gets lost due to the wind, they turn in the direction that does not call for them to cross the separation point. The monarch butterflies’ ability to migrate from Canada to Mexico every year had always baffled researchers. One is the time of day and the other is the sun’s position in the sky. Scientists found that the small animals have an internal clock that can deliver that piece of information in their antennae. Furthermore, the final model was able to give a precise prediction of the Monarch’s flight path when the insect was placed in the simulation model.
The researchers that cracked the migration pattern of the monarch butterfly say that their return journey is probably embedded in their genetic code, exactly like the trip south. When the time comes, their internal clock adjusts so that they can figure out which way is north.
The Migration of Monarch Butterflies from Canada to Mexico has been one of the most curious mysteries which ruled the minds of nature experts for years.
Based on their model, it also appears that during course corrections the butterflies do not simply make the shortest turn to get back onto the right route.
“In experiments with monarchs at different times of the day, you do see occasions where their turns in course corrections are unusually long, slow or meandering”, said Shlizerman.
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“The model demonstrates an integration mechanism, which produces robust trajectories reaching the southwest regardless of the time of day and includes a configuration for remigration”, the study says. “These could be cases where they can’t do a shorter turn because it would require crossing the separation point”. Researchers were able to develop a model system that simulates the butterfly’s mechanisms.
