Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs
Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs
Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs during Matariki’s longer nights? Turn the lights down low
I find this bit a bit confusing.
Contrary to myth, nocturnal insects do not fly around artificial lights because they confuse them with the moon or stars. Recent research, filming moths with high-speed cameras, found they use moonlight and starlight to differentiate between "up" and "down" as they fly.
Their erratic flight around your outside light is actually due to them trying to orientate themselves to a nonexistent horizon.
I don't quite get the difference between insects confusing lights with the moon and stars vs using them to orient up and down, which presumably is due to them being like the moon or stars so they can tell which way is up.
It would be nice if they actually described how this research identified what makes them confused, or explained it a bit more.
Also, do inside lights affect insects when curtains are shut (which largely block the light), or is it mostly outside lights and street lights?
Here’s another article, this from Scientific American.
Seems there are several hypotheses on why insects are attracted to light, but no one really knows the actual reasons.
Thanks! It seems this is the same study. It seems the specifics are that insects are not directly attracted to the light, rather they expect a diffuse light source overhead (such as from the moon and stars) and use this to orient themselves. Their primative light detection can't tell the difference between this light and artificial light.
I would say this is more an explanation of how insects confuse artificial lights for moonlight, I wouldn't say it disproves the idea that insects confused artificial light for moonlight.