Why are Insects Attracted to Light?
You know how moths like to fly into lamps or crawl all over your tv screen at night? Why do they do this?! The answer is more complicated than you might think.
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You know when you’re outside at night with some lights on, and insects start flying straight into the light, and swarming around it? It’s a thing! What is the deal with that? Turns out, nobody knows for sure. But there are a few theories that suggest that electric lights, fires, and other bright, glowing things might confuse the natural instincts of these insects. Insects that are drawn to light are known as positively phototactic – and one of the theories behind their behavior is that these insects use the moon to navigate at night. These insect species tend to be nocturnal, and many are migratory. So in order to stay on track while travelling long distances, they want to stay at a specific angle with respect to the moon. So the theory is that these insects mistake a point of ligh...
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You know when you’re outside at night with some lights on, and insects start flying straight into the light, and swarming around it? It’s a thing! What is the deal with that? Turns out, nobody knows for sure. But there are a few theories that suggest that electric lights, fires, and other bright, glowing things might confuse the natural instincts of these insects. Insects that are drawn to light are known as positively phototactic – and one of the theories behind their behavior is that these insects use the moon to navigate at night. These insect species tend to be nocturnal, and many are migratory. So in order to stay on track while travelling long distances, they want to stay at a specific angle with respect to the moon. So the theory is that these insects mistake a point of ligh...
