Why flying insects gather at artificial light

Post by dclowd9901 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 4:58 AM UTC

CobrastanJorji wrote: post #87

SamBam wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you're misunderstanding GP. This definitely refutes the theory that insects are trying to escape towards the light, because, as the article shows, insects don't head directly for the light, but instead move orthogonal to it. But this doesn't mean they can't use moonlight to help with flying. The theory, as I understand it, is that they use a distant light source -- e.g. the daytime sky -- to maintain altitude…

Okay, something I'm confused about. "Dorsal side" means, as far as I can tell, your back. So if a fly is keeping its dorsal side facing the moon, that means its back is pointing at the moon. When the moon's directly overhead, this makes lots of sense. Fly goes around wherever. But if the moon's low on the eastern horizon, would we expect flies to mostly be facing upwards, and mostly flying west?

Post by RHSman2 » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 5:12 AM UTC

wolverine876 wrote: post #99

dekhn wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I read all your comments carefully, in detail, before responding. Can you give us some examples of what you mean? I'm struggling to see how somebody on their own could come up with a non-trivial scientific result that was meaningful in any way.

> a non-trivial scientific result that was meaningful in any way I assume you mean non-trivial and meaningful to society and to the progress of human knowledge. My whole point is that those properties are not necessary to doing 'science'. What I do is non-trivial and meaningful to me and sometimes to people I know, to a few people on the Internet, and/or to my community or co-workers. Though sometimes the data is tri…

Post by conductr » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 5:47 AM UTC

_xerces_ wrote: post #72

codetrotter wrote: post #27

So am I understanding correctly that this confirms the common perception they cited: > Insects use the moon as a celestial compass cue to navigate, and mistakenly use artificial light sources instead

I think a lot of the comments are also missing the fact that the moon is an unreliable means of navigation due it not always being present the whole night (or at all), changes brightness, moves around the sky and can be covered by cloud. It is unlikely then that insects would specifically evolve to use it as a means of navigation. The paper states that it is the general brightness of the sky, even at night, compared…

Post by guappa » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 6:46 AM UTC

trklausss wrote: post #106

Balgair wrote: post #104

One fun thing to do with a swarm of bug near a light is to take out your keys and shake them. Keys will often ring in the ultrasonic and poorly mimic the frequencies that a lot of bats use. If you have a population of bats that hunt near you, the bugs will typically just drop. Like, just drop to the ground as fast as they can. They know the sound of hunting bats and your keys may be just close enough to that sound th…

Well you have no sources and you can be full of it. But following the scientific method, I’ll try your hypothesis next chance I have! :D

Post by henearkr » Wed, Jan 31, 2024, 8:03 AM UTC

ryankrage77 wrote: post #91

henearkr wrote: post #56

How is it compatible with the times of the day/year when the sun is absolutely not "up there" but closer to the horizon?

The insects still orient themselves towards the sky, as it's the brighter hemisphere. They're not locking directly onto light sources, just using them as a cue for orientation. But that fails when the reference point is not distant, as with an artificial light.