Astronomers know how to fly

Perhaps many of us never know the location of the Milky Way in the sky, but the beetles often look up at the "Ngan River" to determine the direction.

Light from the Milky Way helps beetles to navigate in the process.

If a pile of waste is found, the scarab often gathers round members ' spoils and rolls to a safe position to beat the cup. They always roll food in a straight line, because if they roll in a curve, they will likely return to their starting position, where other beetles can rob their fruits of labor.

Marie Dacke, a scientist from Lund University in Sweden, once proved that beetles can orient by determining the position of the moon and the sun. However, she was shocked to see that they were still well-directed during moonless nights. Therefore, she guessed that they also relied on another source of light in the sky to orient. After many experiments in an astronomical research center in South Africa, she discovered beetles driven by light from the Milky Way.

"Of course, beetles roll in every direction, not in a parallel or perpendicular direction to the Milky Way. They only consider the Milky Way as a reference to determine the direction only , " Dacke said. expression.

Scientists already know that humans, birds and seals have the ability to navigate by determining the position of the stars. But this is the first time we have discovered that insects have similar abilities.

According to Dacke's prediction, it is possible that the beetles possess double eyes so they can clearly see the Milky Way in the sky.