article_snippet.sent: It may not turn into a bloodthirsty beast in the moonlight, but a peculiar plant does rely on the lunar cycle to survive.
article_snippet.sent: Dung beetles use polarised moonlight to navigate in straight lines while moving dung.
article_snippet.sent: It’s unknown how the plant ‘knows’ when the plant ‘’s full moon, but the plant ‘ can detect different intensities of light during the phases of full moon as well as gravity, which the plant ‘ could potentially use to identify lunar phases.
article_snippet.sent: While E. foeminea may be the first plant to respond to the lunar cycle, numerous animals are known to experience behaviour changes at different times during the lunar cycle.
article_snippet.sent: For example, dung beetles use polarised moonlight to navigate in straight lines while moving dung and crabs and seabirds are also said to use full moon to carry out daily activities.
article_snippet.sent: Ephedra foeminea is the only known plant species to follow the lunar cycle, but dung beetles use polarised moonlight to navigate in straight lines while moving dung (a stock image is shown) and crabs and seabirds are also said to use full moon to carry out daily activities .
article_snippet.sent: ‘Correlation with the lunar cycle has been described regarding activity, reproduction, communication and navigation for a number of vertebrates and invertebrates,’ the study says.
article_snippet.sent: Therefore, it is not surprising that full moon can influence plants as well, e.g. as a consequence of plant–animal interactions.
highlights_snippet.sent: It's the only species that's known to follow the moon's phases to survive .