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A32 FEATURE
Wednesday 11 december 2019
Why are moths attracted to light?
Carlos Linares Boise toward lights as if they are
Associated Press trying to keep the “Moon”
Why are moths attracted off to the same side.
to light? – Gabriel H., age Another idea is that lights
7, Providence, RI “ Have trick moths into seeing vi-
you ever gone for a walk sual illusions of darker ar-
at night and looked up eas near the lights’ edges,
at the lights along the called Mach bands, and
street? If you paid atten- moths fly toward these
tion, you probably saw dark hiding places.
lots of little creatures flying Yet another idea suppos-
around those lights. Why es that lights at night blind
do moths, one of many moths by swamping the
kinds of insects, fly toward light receptors in their eyes
light? Some circle around, and disorienting them.
others zigzag, but they Could lights be partially to
all seem to somehow be blame for fewer insects?
drawn to lights. As scientists, we think that
Insects that fly at night understanding how lights
are attracted to artificial attract moths can help us
light all around the world. understand why insects
We are scientists who are declining. It may be
are curious about the ef- that lights make insects
fects of light pollution on This undated photo provided by the Oregon Zoo shows a Opodiphthera eucalypti moth in its easy prey by concentrat-
moths and other insects, habitat on Mount Hebo in Oregon. Associated Press ing them in one place
and that is what we in- and interfering with their
abilities to avoid bats.
vestigate in our work. One Or, when the Sun rises, in-
of us grew up in Mexico. sects may find themselves
And one of us grew up trapped on unnatural sur-
in Alaska. When we were faces, where their camou-
kids, we both remember flage doesn’t work: Now
insects flying and crashing they are easy prey for
against the street lights in birds and lizards.
front of our houses in dif- Another problem could
ferent parts of the world. be that trapped insects,
But now, it seems there lured away from their nor-
are fewer and fewer in- mal habitat, are forced to
sects flying around those lay their eggs far from the
same lights. plants their young need
Why are moths and other to eat. And many insects
insects important? likely die from exhaustion
During the last several de- while circling lights.
cades, the number of in- If you would like to help
sects in forests, fields and insects, you can use yel-
cities seems to be declin- low or red light bulbs on
ing. Insects are an impor- the outside of your house.
tant source of food for These lights attract few-
almost all other animals. er insects. Motion sensor
They also do very impor- lights are helpful, too, be-
tant jobs like pollinating cause they turn on only
flowers or breaking down when needed. As we ex-
leaves and other organic plore how light pollution
matter to be used again is affecting insects, our
by nature. research can inform lo-
For years, scientists have cal and national govern-
tried to explain why moths ments on how to manage
and other insects are at- light to protect the natural
tracted to lights, but sci- world.q
entists are not entirely sure
why!
We are currently designing
experiments to determine
which of several explana-
tions might be true. One
idea is that some insects
use the Moon or bright
stars as direction-finding
aids. To moths, streetlights
might look like the Moon,
which could mislead
them. Some insects spiral
