Insects And Light - What's The Catch?!
Over time, it's been noticed that bugs do follow the light to fly straight, stay upright as well as remain properly oriented. At any point the light bulb is turned on, bugs would always fly directly into it with a satisfying sizzle, little do you know that you are actually deceiving them.
You most probably would have heard about saying:
drawn like a bug to a flame
Well, if you have, you would most be able to relate with what the speaker meant. Obviously, the statement is drawn from the perpetual habit of bugs who tends to always fly towards any source of light, even if it might be harmful to them. Try out sitting near a warm fire on a warm summer night, you most certainly would heard sound of a few dozen bugs frying themselves up, also if you happen to leave your window wide open at night, you shouldn't be too surprised if by the time you wake up, you got some new friends (insects) in the morning! Although this is a well known phenomenon, but a lot of people do not really understood it… but let's find out what makes insects very much attracted to light?
Natural Instinct Or Man Made Problem
While it may seem like the vast majority of bugs are slightly suicidal, given their penchant for “bee”-lining right into a light source, there are actually a number of scientific theories to explain this strange habit
But let's look at just one; PHOTOTAXIS
Phototaxis is a word which isn't too popular, Infact most persons know nothing about it, but it is simply referred to as a natural instinct to be affected by light sources There are basically two types of phototaxis, while positive phototaxis simply indicates that one is attracted to light, negative phototaxis indicates that one avoid light. For decades and centuries, insects have been evolving in very fascinating ways, one of which is the way which they navigate. At night, insects often use natural light sources, such as the moon and stars, to navigate through the world.
Let's take moths for example, they have been found to follow the guidance of moon light to fly straight, fly straight and remain oriented. The moth would definitely never reach the moon, but the same cannot be said of artificial light sources. Thus, when a car back porch light is turned on, moths are easily deceived, this they tend to fly directly into it with a satisfying sizzle. Evolution happens, although it happens at a very slow pace, but such a deadly trend such as this for insects seems to be evolving even more rapidly, as these days we see insects avoiding lights, survive, and pass on this wisdom unto their progeny.
Although there are quite a good number of arguments on all sides, even presently, this insects suicidal obsession with light still remains a mystery. No one knows, but perhaps in some more years to come, insects would be able to tell the difference between artificial light and the stars in the sky, but until then, your outdoor fire would probably have a lot to eat.