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🦋 Our new preprint out! 🧭 We investigated compass systems in Vanessa atalanta, the red admiral, a common migratory butterfly in Europe.
👉 doi.org/10.1101/2025… #LepidopteraOrientation #LepiMigration

Monarch butterflies and Bogong moths are famous for their complex, multimodal compasses (sun, magnetic, stars). But what about the red admiral, a key but understudied European migrant? Using a flight simulator, we tested red admirals under various light and magnetic field conditions. Our findings: ✔️ Reliance on solar cues ❌ No evidence for magnetic sense 🕒 No time compensation in sun compass

Surprisingly, red admirals did not shift direction after a clock shift — suggesting they use the sun as a heading indicator, not a true time-compensated sun compass (unlike monarchs and hoverflies). Under overcast condition or artificial light with no sun cues, the butterflies lost their directional sense — confirming the primacy of solar visual input over magnetic cue. These findings show that compass systems in migratory Lepidoptera are not universal. Different species with different migration strategies = different orientation mechanisms. Our study highlights the need to go beyond model species.