You’ve seen insects swarm around artificial lights. But new research suggests the reason why is not what you think.
Many theories have been proposed to explain insects' flight patterns around artificial lights. This composite photograph uses flash and long exposure to show the paths of insects in Costa Rica around an ultraviolet light.Chances are you've heard the phrase "like a moth to a flame"—and probably seen it in action at a nighttime bonfire or barbecue, too.
Unlike humans, most insects don’t have vestibular systems to help them maintain spatial orientation. But they do have a “system that allows them to really quickly tell what's bright versus what's dim, and give them feedback about the sky so that they can fly stably,” Sondhi says. “If they mess that up, they start crashing or they go too high and then they stall.
Sondhi and a team of researchers put this question to the test in the Monteverde Cloud Forest of Costa Rica, home to one of the most biodiverse arrays of insects on the planet. Brimstone butterflies orbit a UV tube light inside the motion capture flight arena at Imperial College London as part of an experiment to help understand insects' behavior around artificial lights.Two infrared lights illuminate a UV tube light in Monteverde, Costa Rica, to allow high-speed cameras to record insects' flight patterns around the tube light without disrupting their natural behavior.
Glowing signs and skyscrapers with lighted windows can confuse and disorient birds, especially during migration season, with deadly results.The Milky Way is visible in Big Bend National Park, in Texas, a designated Dark Sky Park and a part of the largestaround the world due to climate change and habitat loss driven by human activities.
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