When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, you might be a night foraging ant. Well, new research implies that.

A new study conducted by researchers at Macquarie University in Sydney, Australia, investigated how nocturnal bull ants navigate within darker conditions at night. They leave their nests to forage at twilight and tend to be back home before the sun comes out. Researchers say ants that are active during the day rely on the sun’s polarization patterns for navigation. That consists of polarized light that provides compass-like information. It turns out, nocturnal ants may do the same with the moon.

The researchers came to this conclusion after tracking individual ants marked with tiny bits of paint in a forested area on campus. It was part of ongoing research into bull ants that was begun more than a decade ago. To test the impact of the moon’s polarization pattern, the team placed a large polarizing filter over the ants when they returned home after a night of foraging – typically involving procuring tree sap – and then rotated it. According to findings published in the journal eLife, when it was rotated, they changed directions.

This suggests that their navigation is linked to the moon’s polarized light.

Dr. Cody Freas, the study’s lead author and behavioral ecologist at Macquarie’s School of Natural Sciences, explains, “These ants have highly specialized visual systems able to collect this light cue throughout the night.

“We showed these ants can detect this cue throughout the lunar month, even when polarized light levels are at their lowest.”

That would be when there’s a crescent moon.

The findings help scientists better understand how nocturnal species, even mammals, may use the moon to find their way at night. It may also help with new technologies in navigational systems, especially those made to operate in dimmer light.

Dr. Freas says, “A miniature robot with very small processing power could potentially use a sensor that is highly tuned enough to see lunar polarization, integrated into a simple navigational toolbox like an ant has – and then you can enable nocturnal navigation.”

Their research into ant navigation isn’t finished, though. They plan to look at other bull ants across Australia to see if they do the same thing.