‘Like a moth to a flame’ - this strange insect behaviour is finally explained

Moths love a light bulb. And it’s not just moths - all sorts of insects congregate around artificial lights at night. But what makes these lights so apparently attractive?
Previous explanations have included the idea that confused insects are attempting to use the moon to navigate, or that they’re being drawn to the heat rather than the light itself. Now, advances in camera technology have allowed researchers to study the flight of these insects in more detail than ever before, and revealed a new solution to the mystery.
Footage shows that flying insects seem to be twisting to keep their back to the light - a reflex known as a dorsal light response. Rather than being attracted towards it, they find themselves stuck in a loop flying around it…
Read the paper in full www.nature.com/articles/s4146...
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[@Grim_Beard]

I had so many questions when I read the short news story on this research, and this video did a great job of explaining the methodology and findings. Lovely to see some of the original research footage too. Many thanks to everyone involved! 🙂 (Oh, and thanks for the link to the paper as well - the news outlet I saw the story on didn't bother.)

[@aniksamiurrahman6365]

But what about insects gathering around the light in the first place? I've seen many to just sit around, sometimes on the light itself.

[@anaconda85234]

Interesting, if they only react on some specific frequency range of light, then maybe we can make light which does not attract insect anymore. Good for both human and insect.

[@Amuzic]

While this is not the whole answer..this does make a lot of sense for the first time among all the explanations i have heard so far.

[@borenessinabottle]

Great research and a well made video!

[@albertmarti2718]

This has got to be one of the coolest papers to come out this year so far!

[@VR_Wizard]

So is only using light coming from above pointing down the solution to protect more insects? Would that be enough or is the light hitting the ground also a problem.

[@kaushalsuvarna5156]

So how many insects does it take to change a light bulb ❤

[@JS-yj7ow]

I never put any stock in the “moon” theory, and half expected it would be exactly this.

[@techcafe0]

For many animals, particularly birds, the moon is essential to migration and navigation. Others will time their reproduction cycles to coincide with specific phases of the lunar cycle. This is pretty much common knowledge. Search for yourself: moon and animal behavior

[@abineshanbazhagan6703]

This is a great video though! It motives me to go reach a journal for my recent mansucript. At recent times ( since 2 years) I started collecting some data based on an observation which is bit similar to that. I could observe aggregation behavior in a tropical narrow endemic gecko species. under ALAN. To understand which was actually so, collected two more scenarios for behavioral observation and it turned positive that just ALAN had that role. Maybe someday in a journal if thst goes well! Good job to the whole team for the curiosity and way of handling such a beautiful research question! 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

[@brahmahum]

Maybe they're just trying to get rid of something on their wings, that's plaging them.

[@mayankacharya]

i have questions....can we have a follow up video? even humans are sensitive in the neck hump to light and are addicted to it, more during winter, possibly because of suppression of feed urge or stimulate their version of corpus callosum. 1. So hard shelled insects are immune and soft fleshy humped are more prone to dorsal light reflex?? 2. What chemicals, hormones are released to influence the sub esophageal ganglion? 3. has this research any link to the cure of some forms of autism spectrum? Follow up video and discussion please.

[@footfault1941]

A fascinating study, revealing a very intriguing fact! Do insects, or others responding in the similar manner, have specialized light-sensitive organs on the dorsal side?

[@bigfootpegrande]

Living in a bug prolific environment (you know, bigfoots), I sort of relax opening the windows at night when it is full moon, based in the notion insects are attracted by light because of this adaptative feature. Maybe one could test the sampling of indoor household insects throughout the lunar cycle, eh?!

[@HuckleberryHim]

There are probably many, many, many insects coming into your home if you are leaving windows open, regardless of the moon. You should really have a screen on the windows, both so you are not bothered (ants, mosquitoes, etc) and so that rare, unique native insects do not die trapped in houses!

[@wormwood2880]

This is interesting, but it doesn't prove that the moths don't ALSO use the moon/stars for navigation. In fact, this basically proves that they do just that, one way or another. Even if it's simply to orientate themselves upward, this does not contradict that they use the light from the natural sky to guide them. Also, the distance of the light source from the bugs DOES affect them, as simple observation of any insect will teach you that if flying in the dark, the insect will head to the one opening which has light going through it, and it will NOT turn it's back to it. So many more questions to answer now.

[@Petch85]

For how long do the light need to be turned off, for the moths to escape the light?

[@HuckleberryHim]

They can escape it right away I'm pretty sure, unless they have some neurological "afterimage". But I have seen insects stop flying toward a light as soon as I turned it off

[@tbird81]

2:00 Why didn't they just position the cameras at the light source? That way they could be illuminated with a bright light.

[@HimanshuSingh-ej2tc]

camera sensor will be facing only in one direction then if it is a light source. for calculating trajectory, they need more camera from other point

[@tbird81]

@@HimanshuSingh-ej2tc Good point. Could have a wide angle camera, or multiple cameras. It could have been cheaper than high frame rate, low noise, infrared sensors. Infrared usually has lower resolution.

[@anathardayaldar]

"ecologically contextualize" Was there an easier way to say that?

[@MinusMedley]

They use the light for orientation, during the day the sun is above them. Edit: Haha, wrote this before actually watching the video. Proper NerdGasm there. 😅

[@EyesOfByes]

So can we make mosquitos snap their backs?

[@MinusMedley]

Nah mosquitoes are one of the species not affected by this, in fact they tend to flee when the lights go on, they are most attracted to odour or CO2.

[@TroyRubert]

Outstanding work, everyone involved. I wish he had an X account. I would love to ask him a question or two.

[@samfabian4718]

Happy to answer questions on here if that's helpful!

[@techcafe0]

mabye the flying insects turn away from the light source so they can more easily see everything around them, as they fly around with their backs to the bright light, rather than be blinded by it and not see anyting

[@AmiyaSarkar]

Yes, this is a more logical explanation.

[@sunsunsunh]

Makes no sense, really. You think they think like humans

[@___Truth___]

@@sunsunsunh Who said anything about thinking

[@kforest2745]

Cruel

[@onceweslept]

he's kinda mimicking his study objects by talkung to the back of his microphone

[@copernicus1615]

The bugs go toward the light because they think they got stuck in a dark cave or hollow tree or whatever and they try to get ‘out’ of the hole leading to the outside

[@tbird81]

Did you even watch the video?

[@copernicus1615]

@@tbird81 yes. They describe a dorsal response behavior, which is interesting and proven by the research. However, it is only a hypothesis is that this causes bugs to randomly flying by to be caught in trap constantly circling around light. The narrator says this disproves common theories such as insects navigating by the moon. But the speaker says they are still researching the radius at which insects get trapped to determine if there are other factors, e.g. an attraction to lights at night. My explanation is based on simple observation of bees and other bugs get trapped in back of a dark part of my garage during the day. All I have to do is turn off the light, and they fly to the open door to the outside. They don’t get stuck flying around with their back to the door. So, in summary, yes I did watch the video.

[@dylanparker130]

Sorry, but this is old news. I remember reading (in the novel `Howards End', I think) that moths are not attracted to the light, but to the darkness just beyond the light (the darkness seeming most dark around a bright light source). Howards End was written more than 100 years ago.

[@fullyawakened]

did you watch the video?

[@dylanparker130]

@@fullyawakenedYes

[@WhosWhointheZoo123]

And this is all bs propaganda to get lights banned........

[@28704joe]

"moths are not attracted to the light, but to the darkness just beyond the light". That explains why they hang around the light.....

[@dylanparker130]

@@28704joeExactly. And that explanation appears in Howards End.

[@A3Kr0n]

If it wasn't for fossil fuel there wouldn't be anybody with the time to work on this. Enjoy the wonders of research with you can!

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

Yup, and now its threatening what we're researching and our ability to research, gather and spread knowledge and survive, it was a nice boost but man did is it costly, especially to those that werent benefiting from it

[@jryde421]

According to scientists climate has always changed

[@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369]

yeah.. theres been a lot of extinction events in the history of life, I dont like the idea of causing another one to ourselves lol@@jryde421

[@HuckleberryHim]

And how is that? When global productivity, by whatever measure, was a couple % of what it is today, people were still doing this type of science. Even a couple centuries ago, before fossil fuels were even being used.

[@tbird81]

​@@stefansauvageonwhat-a-twis1369Everyone has benefited from it. Although it would be nice to have a timeline where it wasn't required. It put way too much power in the hands of the middle east.

[@o-english-com]

I was translating a few verses of The Holy Quran and came across this video when I made research for moths. Now I understand the meaning of the following verse: It is the Day when people will be like moths, dispersed Thank you very much for the video and the research 👍🏼