Nocturnal orientation in a diurnal dung beetle

Abstract

Event Abstract Back to Event Nocturnal orientation in a diurnal dung beetle Jochen Smolka1*, Emily Baird1, Marcus J. Byrne2, Basil El Jundi1, Marie Dacke1, 2 and Eric Warrant1 1 Lund University, Department of Biology, Sweden 2 University of the Witwatersrand, School of Animal, Plant and Environmental Sciences, South Africa Nocturnal dung beetles remain the only insects shown to use the polarisation pattern around the moon (Dacke et al. 2003 Nature 424:33) and the Milky Way (Dacke et al. 2013 Curr. Biol. 23:1) as directional cues for orientation. Supposedly, their highly adapted visual systems – with larger lenses, wider and longer rhabdoms than their diurnal relatives and a tracheal tapetum – enable them to perform this difficult task. We show here that even a diurnal dung beetle without any specialisations for dim-light vision can use the moon, the lunar polarisation pattern and even the Milky Way to keep a straight course at night. We compared the orientation performance of the exclusively diurnal Scarabaeus lamarcki and the nocturnal S. satyrus when rolling their balls under the open sky on either (1) a moonlit night with the moon visible or shaded, (2) a moonless night or (3) in a control condition with an artificial light source. For each condition, beetles were individually placed in the centre of a circular 3m arena. Their outbound tracks were recorded from above, and their straightness evaluated by the track length. While the performance of the nocturnal beetles was equally good under control, moonlit and starlit conditions, the paths of the diurnal animals were on average about 50% longer (i.e. more curved) when the moon was absent. However, the majority of the beetles – diurnal and nocturnal – were clearly able to use the stars as an orientation cue. In additional experiments in the laboratory, beetles of both species were tested under a number of different light conditions to determine the minimum intensity of a point light source necessary for orientation. Under these conditions, as under a moonlit sky, we found no difference in orientation performance between diurnal and nocturnal beetles. We will discuss the implications for our interpretation of visual adaptations to nocturnality, and of the potential for nocturnal navigation in a large number of insect species. Keywords: orientation and navigation, dim light vision, eye design, Milky Way, polarised moonlight, sky compass Conference: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision, Fjälkinge, Sweden, 1 Aug - 8 Aug, 2013. Presentation Type: Oral presentation preferred Topic: Navigation and orientation Citation: Smolka J, Baird E, Byrne MJ, El Jundi B, Dacke M and Warrant E (2019). Nocturnal orientation in a diurnal dung beetle. Front. Physiol. Conference Abstract: International Conference on Invertebrate Vision. doi: 10.3389/conf.fphys.2013.25.00049 Copyright: The abstracts in this collection have not been subject to any Frontiers peer review or checks, and are not endorsed by Frontiers. They are made available through the Frontiers publishing platform as a service to conference organizers and presenters. The copyright in the individual abstracts is owned by the author of each abstract or his/her employer unless otherwise stated. Each abstract, as well as the collection of abstracts, are published under a Creative Commons CC-BY 4.0 (attribution) licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) and may thus be reproduced, translated, adapted and be the subject of derivative works provided the authors and Frontiers are attributed. For Frontiers’ terms and conditions please see https://www.frontiersin.org/legal/terms-and-conditions. Received: 05 Mar 2013; Published Online: 09 Dec 2019. * Correspondence: Dr. Jochen Smolka, Lund University, Department of Biology, Lund, 22362, Sweden, jochen.smolka@biol.lu.se Login Required This action requires you to be registered with Frontiers and logged in. To register or login click here. Abstract Info Abstract The Authors in Frontiers Jochen Smolka Emily Baird Marcus J Byrne Basil El Jundi Marie Dacke Eric Warrant Google Jochen Smolka Emily Baird Marcus J Byrne Basil El Jundi Marie Dacke Eric Warrant Google Scholar Jochen Smolka Emily Baird Marcus J Byrne Basil El Jundi Marie Dacke Eric Warrant PubMed Jochen Smolka Emily Baird Marcus J Byrne Basil El Jundi Marie Dacke Eric Warrant Related Article in Frontiers Google Scholar PubMed Abstract Close Back to top Javascript is disabled. Please enable Javascript in your browser settings in order to see all the content on this page.