Why insects fly towards light

These insects navigate by keeping themselves aligned at a certain angle relative to a light source. This is because the angle to the light source changes as the insect passes the source, so in an attempt to keep themselves aligned the insect ends up flying round in circles.

The entire situation is, no doubt, very confusing for the poor little things. This theory has a couple of problems , however, since unnatural light sources such as man-made fires have been around for thousands of years.

We therefore might expect that natural selection would have plucked out the insects that engaged in this suicidal behavior.

Another idea is that seeing an unobstructed light source indicates that the pathway is clear, therefore the insects fly directly towards it in an attempt to avoid obstacles. This could explain why some insects seem to kamikaze right into light bulbs.

Some people have postulated that since many flowers reflect UV light, bugs may be attracted to artificial light sources that also emit small amounts of UV because they mistake them for a flower , aka a food source. Indeed, bugs tend to be more attracted to UV light rather than longer wavelength light such as yellow and red. Animals Wild Cities This wild African cat has adapted to life in a big city.

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Science Why it's so hard to treat pain in infants. Science The controversial sale of 'Big John,' the world's largest Triceratops. Many believe that positively phototactic insects like moths use moonlight as a navigational tool. As they fly by moonlight, the Moon stays in a fixed position overhead. But when you turn on artificial light, the moths see it as another Moon and become confused. Another theory suggests that bugs use light as an escape route. However, bugs — especially moths — suffer from a temporary night blindness just like people do.

If you want to keep the bugs away at night, try yellow or red bug lights. A few insects will still be attracted to these lights, but not nearly so many as are attracted to white lights. In fact, this is one reason why bug zappers are supposed to work — the white and UV light that the device produces is supposed to attract and then zap mosquitoes.

Bug zappers do attract a lot of phototactic insects, but only a few mosquitoes. If you want an evening outdoors without the bugs, try using yellow bug lights outdoors.

Better yet, simply enjoy your evening by the light of the Moon. You can always use one of our natural repellents to keep the biting ones away from you. Amber Kanuckel is a freelance writer from rural Ohio who loves all things outdoors. She specializes in home, garden, environmental, and green living topics. Very interesting read. Feed them all winter and they will de-bugg your yard all summer.