In the insect brain, the central complex forms a representation of the animal's position in space. Here, we investigated central complex neurons with a novel technique using tetrode recordings in immobile and tethered flying animals.

Insects can use different visual cues such as skylight and landmarks to navigate. Here, we found that monarch butterflies use different orientation strategies, depending on the properties of the visual cues provided to them in behavioral experiments.

In flight-simulator experiments on tethered monarch butterflies, we found that monarch butterflies can orient relative simulated visual cues and can combine multiple cues for more robust orientation.