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Context:

• Recently, Researchers have discovered that 2 species of nocturnal bull ants use polarised moonlight to navigate in the night.
• These 2 species of nocturnal bull ants are Myrmecia pyriformis & Myrmecia midas.
• Here, Nocturnal means animals that are active in night & sleep during the day. Its Example includes owls & bats.
• This is only 2nd known animal which uses polarised moonlight. The 1st was the dung beetle.

What is Polarised Light?

• Polarized light is light that travels in a specific direction & it is scattered after hitting particles in the atmosphere.
• Normally, light travels in all directions, but when it contacts dust or water droplets, it becomes polarized. That means it vibrates in a specific direction.
• Moonlight behaves in a similar way to sunlight. Even moonlight is also sunlight reflecting off the moon. But it also becomes polarized like sunlight when it passes through Earth's atmosphere.
• Some animals can detect these polarized light patterns. This is known as e-vector patterns.

How Do Bull Ants Use It?

• Even when the moonlight is very dim. These ants can use this polarised moonlight.
• But During the full moon, when the light is stronger. Then these ants are able to navigate their paths more accurately.

How researchers find this?

• Scientists used a polarisation filter to create artificial polarised light. And then they observed the ants’ ability to navigate back to their nests.
• Then scientists changed light direction. And they observed that these ants adjusted their paths accordingly. So it means that they were using the polarised moonlight for their navigation.

Why it matters?

• This discovery shows how animals can adapt to their environment by using light patterns to navigate. even in challenging conditions such as dim moonlight.
• It increases our understanding of how animals rely on natural phenomena for navigation. This can also help us learn more about ecology & animal behavior.

Bull Ant

Source: Thehindu