Black felt and a fake night sky: how scientists proved bogong moths use the stars to navigate to unknown lands

Researchers built a flying simulator for bogong moths, with the night sky projected like a small planetarium. Photograph: Ajay Narendra

Australia’s bogong moths are guided by the stars as they navigate up to 1,000km to a place they’ve never been before, new research has concluded, making them the first invertebrates confirmed to use celestial navigation.

Each year in spring, bogong moths emerge from their breeding grounds in the country’s south-east and migrate to the mountainous caves and rocky crevices of the Australian Alps to escape the summer heat.