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<\/figure><\/div>\n\nIT\u2019S NOT ONLY BIRDS THAT FLY SOUTH FOR winter. Many of Europe\u2019s death\u2019s-head hawkmoths also head off to warmer climes in autumn. And new research reveals that they do so by means of a sophisticated navigation system comparable to that of our feathered friends. <\/p>\n\n
\u201cThey\u2019re not just getting blown about,\u201d says Myles Menz, lead author of the research, published in Science. <\/em>\u201cThey have a place to go and they\u2019re getting there.\u201d <\/p>\n\n Menz and his colleagues were able to track the insects as they crossed the Alps by fitting them with tiny, short-range transmitters that could be followed by scientists travelling in a light aircraft.<\/span><\/p>\n\n This revealed that the moths routinely adjust their heading to compensate for wind direction, allowing them to maintain a consistently straight flight path. They also seek out the most favourable winds by varying their altitude. \u201cThey can get up really high to use a tail-wind,\u201d says Menz. \u201cIn cross-winds or head-winds, they sit down low and power through.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n\n Their precise destination is not yet entirely clear. \u201cThey\u2019re probably heading to the Mediterranean, North Africa and possibly sub-Saharan Africa,\u201d says Menz, who undertook the research at Germany\u2019s Max Planck Institute of Animal Behavior. <\/p>\n\n In which case, they may be covering 4,000km on their migratory flights. It\u2019s possible, though, that the sub-Saharan population of death\u2019s-heads are not connected to those from Europe and that they remain there year-round, says Menz. This raises the intriguing possibility that populations vary in their migratory strategies \u2013 again, much like birds. <\/p>\n\n There is also the question of how they know which way to go. Unlike birds, which can learn a route by following more experienced flock-members and then hone their strategy over subsequent years, the moths, which only live for a few weeks as adults, make the trip only once. \u201cThere\u2019s really good evidence for various compass mechanisms in insects \u2013 sun compasses in day-flying insects and magnetic ones in night-flying moths, or navigating using landmarks. We can now try to uncover how they might be using these different cues to get where they want to go,\u201d says Menz. <\/p>\n\n Stuart Blackman <\/strong><\/p>\n\n <\/p>\n\n Lead author Myles Menz<\/p>\n\n FROM THE BBC WILDLIFE<\/strong><\/em><\/em> ARCHIVE <\/strong>October 1987<\/strong><\/em><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBrave as a lion, strong as a lion, lion-hearted, king of the beasts\u2026no wonder kings put the lions on their shields,\u201d writes journalist Bill Cater. In the October 1987 issue of BBC Wildlife<\/em> he presents no-nonsense facts and figures on Pantheraleo, <\/em>comparing the lion\u2019s symbolic associations with what we actually know about the big cat: \u201cA brave beast \u2013 who will rarely fight if he can avoid it? A noble beast \u2013 who would sooner eat something he had found dead than rush round catching prey for himself? But still\u2026the lion can teach us lessons.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n ASH KEYS<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n How the dangly fruit of the ash tree attract bullfinches and, when fallen, provide food for wood mice. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div><\/section>\n\n The impressive navigation strategies of migrating death\u2019s-head hawkmoths rival those of birds <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":20627,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ub_ctt_via":"","purple_page_number":"34","purple_custom_meta_purple_page_number":"34","purple_seq_number":"1","purple_custom_meta_purple_seq_number":"1","purple_source_article":"article_34-1.xml","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_article":"article_34-1.xml","purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_custom_meta_purple_source_issue":"October-2022","purple_external_id":"October-2022-34-1","purple_custom_meta_purple_external_id":"October-2022-34-1","purple_issue_code":"|0000087236||","purple_custom_meta_purple_issue_code":"|0000087236||","purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.496","purple_custom_meta_purple_android_product":"com.im.wildlife.496","purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.496","purple_custom_meta_purple_ios_product":"com.im.wildlife.496","purple_web_product":"","purple_custom_meta_purple_web_product":"","purple_publication_id":"58d61955-0ac4-406c-83f1-ab6f21d86b70","purple_migrated":"","kt_blocks_editor_width":"","apple_news_api_created_at":"2022-09-22T08:28:45Z","apple_news_article-theme":"","apple_news_api_id":"c856fd92-c692-40dd-a603-b1966255a4bd","apple_news_api_modified_at":"2022-09-23T07:15:47Z","apple_news_api_revision":"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAABQ==","apple_news_api_share_url":"https:\/\/apple.news\/AyFb9ksaSQN2mA7GWYlWkvQ","apple_news_coverimage":0,"apple_news_coverimage_caption":"","apple_news_is_hidden":false,"apple_news_is_paid":true,"apple_news_is_preview":true,"apple_news_is_sponsored":false,"apple_news_maturity_rating":"","apple_news_pullquote":"","apple_news_pullquote_position":"","apple_news_article_theme":"","apple_news_sections":"[]"},"categories":[25],"tags":[14],"apple_news_notices":[],"featured_image_src":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview.jpg","author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"3","apple_news_title":""},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview.jpg",1600,1065,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview-768x511.jpg",768,511,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview-1536x1022.jpg",1536,1022,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2022\/09\/naturepl_01167801_cmyk_preview.jpg",1600,1065,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"The impressive navigation strategies of migrating death\u2019s-head hawkmoths rival those of 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