Life Sciences Commons^™

Discordant Timing Between Antennae Disrupts Sun Compass Orientation In Migratory Monarch Butterflies, Patrick Guerra, Christine Merlin, Robert Gegear, Steven Reppert

Robert J. Gegear

To navigate during their long-distance migration, monarch butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use a time-compensated sun compass. The sun compass timing elements reside in light-entrained circadian clocks in the antennae. Here we show that either antenna is sufficient for proper time compensation. However, migrants with either antenna painted black (to block light entrainment) and the other painted clear (to permit light entrainment) display disoriented group flight. Remarkably, when the black-painted antenna is removed, re-flown migrants with a single, clear-painted antenna exhibit proper orientation behaviour. Molecular correlates of clock function reveal that period and timeless expression is highly rhythmic in brains and clear-painted …