The Mystery Of Why Insects Are Attracted To Light?

Originally posted by blocula

Originally posted by kalamatas
Maybe someone can also speculate as to why every other insect will fly into my bug zapper except for flies, the one pesky insect I'm trying to rid our yard of!

flies are usually associated with evil hauntings correct? there is the demon,beelzebub, who is the lord of the flies! and fly's don't go "into the light" !!! > en.wikipedia.org...

edit on 21-9-2011 by blocula because: (no reason given)

flies and demons > www.askmehelpdesk.com...

reply to post by blocula


Most of the bugs attracted to artificial light navigate at night. The common belief is they used moonlight to navigate and all these lights we have screw up millions of years of programming. however not all insects are attracted to the same kind of light. Moths for example are attracted to artificial light but avoid sunlight. Butterflies on the contrary are attracted to sunlight but are repelled by artificial light. This kinda proves the point insects that travel at night are attracted to low intensity light like the moon. Butterflies navigate during the day so low intensity lights are avoided.

but butterflies and moths " are the same species" so why would they be attracted to different light sources? especially when both of them have been seeing the "sun only" for millions of years and artificial light for only a hundred and fifty or so years??? if buttterflys came out at night,would they fly around the artificial light like moths do? > library.thinkquest.org...

their light seeking behaviors are not understood > www.answerbag.com...

Science has never proven why bugs are attracted to lights and most of the popular theories just don't hold water.

"The lights are confused with the Sun and/or Moon"

I hate this reason, for one, insects that are attracted to lights don't just hover nearby, they literally try to fly directly into them and usually get fried for it. I've never seen an insect try to fly directly toward the sun or moon, and I doubt whether insects that fly at night are even cognizant of the moon (excepting for some types of moths like the Luna Moth). They obviously get along just fine without it on cloudy nights, during a new moon, or when the moon is not in the sky.

"Lights produce heat that attracts them"

Doubtful, plus most lights (like your average porch light) don't produce any noticeable heat from the distance that usually starts attracting insects.

My guess is something about the intensity of a small point of light short-circuits something in certain insects brains that causes them to try to reach the light source or fly as close to it as they can. I don't think evolution has properly equipped all insects with the ability to ignore intense light sources. Put yourself in their microcosm - flying at night your world consists of the high-pitched frequencies from fluttering and the buzzing of wings, pheromones, scents from plants and animals, with your compound eyes to alert you to nearby movements. An intense incandescent light might overwhelm any of these senses. Even their hearing, as lights do give off a high-frequency buzz of their own.

This question reminds me of another, why are rodents attracted to live electrical wires?

i was drawn to this post like a moth to a flame...

(IMHO) It is so we could have a poetic metaphor for our personal attractions... (Also it just not artificial light.)

like a moth to a flame

Meaning
Irresistibly and dangerously attracted to something or someone.

Origin
The phrase is a simple allusion to the known attraction that moths have to bright lights. The word moth was used the the 17th century to mean someone who was apt to be tempted by something that would lead to their downfall. This is referred to by Shakespeare in The Merchant of Venice, 1596:

... "Thus hath the candle singd the moath." ...

"carol anne,don't be afraid"..."we won't harm you"..."we love you"..."you're an angel"..."our only angel who can lead us into the light"..."we won't hurt you"..." we would never hurt you "..."don't run away from us"..."we need you carol anne"..."lead us into the light".....from poltergeist-3 1988...weird or what!?...and then when you realize the tragic death of the young girl,heather o'rourke,who played the carol anne character,it gets even more bizzare...www.imdb.com... is "the light' a trick?...a deception?

i would say that the insects 'realize' that the more intense a light, the more plant growth available to eat, ergo light = plant life nearby..

are they trying to approach the light, get themselves as close as they can to it, while trying to reach the light of the creator?...is light god?...the master of reality?...a super advanced alien?...is satan darkness?...life is light and the grave is dark...what would be the point of insects using the light of the sun or moon as a flight navigator?...just where are they going to anyways? they need the moonlight to fly from my porch to the "artificial" light bulb that's there? and then repeatedly slam themselves against it...just what are they doing?

reply to post by blocula


Where are they going to? The stars! I doubt insects are capable of seeing the stars and planets at night. Their microcosm wouldn't extend that far I wouldn't think. We barely see them anyway unless we are out far away from artificial lights.

So is it possible they believe they are going back to whence we all came. A star? Or dense ball of light before the big bang?

It could also be they believe they are going to another dimension/realm. Which would make sense b/c when you die your no longer grounded to this one!

humans,animals,insects and everything else,were all born from the same mother...we call her the sun!...

they way that they and by they i mean all kind's of different species,repeatedly thrash themselves against the light bulb or light cover,they look like they are trying to kill themselves to get at or into the light!...the same light that those who have died and then were revived report seeing?!?!

"modern humans" have been walking around for about 200,000 years and insects have been crawling and flying around for over 400,000,000 years...

Just now,i counted over twenty different types of crawling and flying insects simultaneously gathered around our forty watt,outside light bulbs clear glass cover and why are so many various species there? what are they doing? what are they seeing and feeling? and what are they looking for?

The light seeking behavior of insects is not understood > www.answerbag.com...

Why are insects attracted to light? > scienceray.com...