Flight simulator experiments

​To unravel the mechanisms in which the butterflies use celestial and landmark cues, we use modified Mouritson-Frost-flight simulators. At the inner surface, the flight simulators are equipped with LEDs which allow to present a variety of cues to the butterflies. The animals are tethered to a mounting rod at the center of the flight simulator. This allows them to freely set a desired compass direction with respect to a visual scene.
We also use outdoor flight arenas that allow testing the butterflies under the real sky in Würzburg (non-migrating species) or in their natural habitat in North America  (migrating species). 

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SPECIFIC QUESTIONS

• The relevance of different celestial cues for the compass of monarch butterflies.
• The use of landmark cues in monarch butterflies.
• The integration of time-information in to the sky compass.

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Participating SCIENTISTS

• Fredrik Hanslin (PhD student)
• Linnéa Jørgensen (PhD student)
• Robin Grob (Postdoc)
• Basil el Jundi (PI)

A monarch butterfly in a flight simulator, the green LED was turned by 180° (movie: M. Franzke).

LED flight arena (photo: M. Franzke)

Tethered monarch butterfly (photo: M. Franzke)