Back in the good ol’ days, we relied on paper maps to get around while hoping we wouldn’t get lost. And prior to that, we navigated using the stars, weather, and even the size of the waves. Nowadays, all we need to do is whip out our phones.
And if you’re someone like me who has no sense of direction and horrible navigational skills, you use your phone a lot.
But the animal kingdom doesn’t have the same luxury as we do. Instead, they rely on the more traditional ways of navigating, like how our ancestors did.
In the case of dung beetles, it’s the Milky Way.
We all know dung beetles as those insects that go around rolling animal crap into balls. So, it comes as no surprise that they play a crucial role in ecosystems by recycling animal waste.
The dung beetles locate the faeces, roll it into balls, and then bury it in their network of tunnels more than a meter deep to use as a food source. They even use it to impress females and convince her to lay her eggs in their ball before burying them underground.
And one of the key strategies they use to get their ball of shit back to their tunnels, is rolling their dung in a straight line.
The reason for this is to ensure they do not accidentally circle back to the pile of crap where other beetles may be present - aka opponents who can steal their dung ball.
So, this is where the Milky Way comes into play.
With its prominent band of light stretching across the night sky, dung beetles used the Milky Way as a form of compass to ensure they travel in a straight trajectory. Interestingly, when the night sky is overcast, the dung beetles had a harder time following a linear path.
They also can’t use stars or intricate star patterns to help them navigate, as the stars don’t shine brightly enough for the beetles to see.
Only the Milky Way shines brightly enough to pave the way.
What’s also cool is that dung beetles are the only known animal to use the Milky Way to navigate. But it doesn’t mean other nocturnal animals in the animal kingdom don’t use the Milky Way for navigation.
Especially since this strategy is great for shorter distances.
Perhaps we can learn a thing or two from these dung beetles. Or at least I can given how bad my navigation skills are.