An Australian species of moth travels up to a thousand kilometers each summer, using the stars for navigation, scientists announced on Wednesday, having discovered this talent in invertebrates that cover vast distances for the first time, reports UNN citing AFP.
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Every year, as temperatures begin to rise, the bogong moth (Agrotis infusa) embarks on a long night flight from its home on the country's east coast to a cool refuge deep in the country in the caves of the Australian Alps.
It has recently been discovered that they can use the Earth's magnetic field as a compass to stay on course during journeys of up to 1000 kilometers.
Now, research published in the journal Nature has shown that these moths can also use the light of the stars and the Milky Way to find their way through the darkness.
"This is the first invertebrate known to be able to use stars for this purpose," AFP quoted study co-author Eric Warrant from Sweden's Lund University.
The only other invertebrates known to use stars for orientation are dung beetles, but this is over very short distances, said Warrant.
Of the entire animal kingdom, only a few birds, possibly seals, and of course humans, can use starlight for long-distance navigation.
Now, insects called bogong moths, which are about three centimeters long and named after an Indigenous Australian word meaning brown, have joined this list.