Geomagnetic and visual cues guide seasonal migratory orientation in the nocturnal fall armyworm, the world’s most invasive insect
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eLife Assessment
This fundamental study presents experimental evidence on how geomagnetic and visual cues are integrated in a nocturnally migrating insect. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling. The work will be of broad interest to researchers studying animal migration and navigation.
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Abstract
The navigational mechanisms employed by nocturnal insect migrants remain to be elucidated in most species. Nocturnal insect migrants are often considered to use the Earth’s geomagnetic field for navigation, yet the underlying mechanisms of magnetoreception in insects remain elusive. We developed an indoor experimental system to investigate the integration of geomagnetic and visual cues in the seasonal orientation of a globally distributed pest moth, the fall armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), a highly invasive species which in the past decade has colonized almost all potentially habitable regions of the globe. Our results demonstrate that fall armyworms require both geomagnetic and visual cues for accurate migratory orientation, with visual cues being indispensable for magnetic orientation. When visual and geomagnetic cues are placed in conflict moths become disoriented, although not immediately, indicating that sensory recognition of the conflict requires time to process. We also show that the absence of visual cues leads to a significant loss of flight stability, which likely explains the disruption in orientation. Our findings highlight the essential and conserved role of visual cues in maintaining stable magnetic orientation in nocturnal migratory moths.
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eLife Assessment
This fundamental study presents experimental evidence on how geomagnetic and visual cues are integrated in a nocturnally migrating insect. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling. The work will be of broad interest to researchers studying animal migration and navigation.
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Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary
The manuscript by Ma et al. provides robust and novel evidence that the noctuid moth Spodoptera frugiperda (Fall Armyworm) possesses a complex compass mechanism for seasonal migration that integrates visual horizon cues with Earth's magnetic field (likely its horizontal component). This is an important and timely study: apart from the Bogong moth, no other nocturnal Lepidoptera has yet been shown to rely on such a dual-compass system. The research therefore expands our understanding of magnetic orientation in insects with both theoretical (evolution and sensory biology) and applied (agricultural pest management, a new model of magnetoreception) significance.
The study uses state-of-the-art methods and presents convincing behavioural evidence for a multimodal compass. It also establishes the Fall …
Reviewer #1 (Public review):
Summary
The manuscript by Ma et al. provides robust and novel evidence that the noctuid moth Spodoptera frugiperda (Fall Armyworm) possesses a complex compass mechanism for seasonal migration that integrates visual horizon cues with Earth's magnetic field (likely its horizontal component). This is an important and timely study: apart from the Bogong moth, no other nocturnal Lepidoptera has yet been shown to rely on such a dual-compass system. The research therefore expands our understanding of magnetic orientation in insects with both theoretical (evolution and sensory biology) and applied (agricultural pest management, a new model of magnetoreception) significance.
The study uses state-of-the-art methods and presents convincing behavioural evidence for a multimodal compass. It also establishes the Fall Armyworm as a tractable new insect model for exploring the sensory mechanisms of magnetoreception, given the experimental challenges of working with migratory birds. Overall, the experiments are well-designed, the analyses are appropriate, and the conclusions are generally well supported by the data.
Strengths
(1) Novelty and significance: First strong demonstration of a magnetic-visual compass in a globally relevant migratory moth species, extending previous findings from the Bogong moth and opening new research avenues in comparative magnetoreception.
(2) Methodological robustness: Use of validated and sophisticated behavioural paradigms and magnetic manipulations consistent with best practices in the field. The use of 5-minute bins to study the dynamic nature of the magnetic compass which is anchored to a visual cue but updated with a latency of several minutes, is an important finding and a new methodological aspect in insect orientation studies.
(3) Clarity of experimental logic: The cue-conflict and visual cue manipulations are conceptually sound and capable of addressing clear mechanistic questions.
(4) Ecological and applied relevance: Results have implications for understanding migration in an invasive agricultural pest with an expanding global range.
(5) Potential model system: Provides a new, experimentally accessible species for dissecting the sensory and neural bases of magnetic orientation.
Weaknesses
While the study is strong overall, several recommendations should be addressed to improve clarity, contextualisation, and reproducibility:
(1) Structure and presentation of results
Requires reordering the visual-cue experiments to move from simpler (no cues) to more complex (cue-conflict) conditions, improving narrative logic and accessibility for non-specialists.
(2) Ecological interpretation
(a) The authors should discuss how their highly simplified, static cue setup translates to natural migratory conditions where landmarks are dynamic, transient or absent.
(b) Further consideration is required regarding how the compass might function when landmarks shift position, are obscured, or are replaced by celestial cues. Also, more consolidated (one section) and concrete suggestions for future experiments are needed, with transient, multiple, or more naturalistic visual cues to address this.
(3) Methodological details and reproducibility
(a) It would be better to move critical information (e.g., electromagnetic noise measurements) from the supplementary material into the main Methods.
(b) Specifying luminance levels and spectral composition at the moth's eye is required for all visual treatments.
(c) Details are needed on the sex ratio/reproductive status of tested moths, and a map of the experimental site and migratory routes (spring vs. fall) should be included.
(d) Expanding on activity-level analyses is required, replacing "fatigue" with "reduced flight activity," and clarifying if such analyses were performed.
(4) Figures and data presentation
(a) The font sizes on circular plots should be increased; compass labels (magnetic North), sample sizes, and p-values should be included.
(b) More clarity is required on what "no visual cue" conditions entail, and schematics or photos should be provided.
(c) The figure legends should be adjusted for readability and consistency (e.g., replace "magnetic South" with magnetic North, and for box plots better to use asterisks for significance, report confidence intervals).
(5) Conceptual framing and discussion
(a) Generalisations across species should be toned down, given the small number of systems tested by overlapping author groups.
(b) It requires highlighting that, unlike some vertebrates, moths require both magnetic and visual cues for orientation.
(c) It should be emphasised that this study addresses direction finding rather than full navigation.
(d) Future Directions should be integrated and consolidated into one coherent subsection proposing realistic next steps (e.g., more complex visual environments, temporal adaptation to cue-field relationships).
(e) The limitations should be better discussed, due to the artificiality of the visual cue earlier in the Discussion.
(6) Technical and open-science points
• Appropriate circular statistics should be used instead of t-tests for angular data shown in the supplementary material.
• Details should be provided on light intensities, power supplies, and improvements to the apparatus.
• The derivation of individual r-values should be clarified.
• Share R code openly (e.g., GitHub).
• Some highly relevant - yet missing - recent and relevant citations should be added, and some less relevant ones removed.
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Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This work provided experimental evidence on how geomagnetic and visual cues are integrated, and visual cues are indispensable for magnetic orientation in the nocturnal fall armyworm.
Strengths:
Although it has been demonstrated previously that the Australian Bogon moth could integrate global stellar cues with the geomagnetic field for long-distance navigation, the study presented in this manuscript is still fundamentally important to the field of magnetoreception and sensory biology. It clearly shows that the integration of geomagnetic and visual cues may represent a conserved navigational mechanism broadly employed across migratory insects. I find the research very important, and the results are presented very well.
Weaknesses:
The authors developed an indoor experimental system to study the …
Reviewer #2 (Public review):
Summary:
This work provided experimental evidence on how geomagnetic and visual cues are integrated, and visual cues are indispensable for magnetic orientation in the nocturnal fall armyworm.
Strengths:
Although it has been demonstrated previously that the Australian Bogon moth could integrate global stellar cues with the geomagnetic field for long-distance navigation, the study presented in this manuscript is still fundamentally important to the field of magnetoreception and sensory biology. It clearly shows that the integration of geomagnetic and visual cues may represent a conserved navigational mechanism broadly employed across migratory insects. I find the research very important, and the results are presented very well.
Weaknesses:
The authors developed an indoor experimental system to study the influence of magnetic fields and visual cues on insect orientation, which is certainly a valuable approach for this field. However, the ecological relevance of the visual cue may be limited or unclear based on the current version. The visual cues were provided "by a black isosceles triangle (10 cm high, 10 cm 513 base) made from black wallpaper and fixed to the horizon at the bottom of the arena". It is difficult to conceive how such a stimulus (intended to represent a landmark like a mountain) could provide directional information for LONG-DISTANCE navigation in nocturnal fall armyworms, particularly given that these insects would have no prior memory of this specific landmark. It might be a good idea to make a more detailed explanation of this question.
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