Are moths attracted towards heat emitted by light sources?

Question

hypothetical answers

Answer 1

Emitted heat and light are both electromagnetic waves. But moths are attracted by visible light, not heat (infrared waves), because they believe it's the moon, which they use for navigation. When they touch light bulbs, they quit often get burned due to the heat.

When moths fly, they try to keep the moon in the same place, but a light bulb, for example, is a lot closer than the moon, so it moves past them very quickly. Therefore, they turn in one direction, to keep the light bulb in the same place, and that causes them to circle around the bulb.

Answer 2

To understand this phenomenon, you need to know about phototaxis. Phototaxis is an organism's automatic movement toward or away from light. Cockroaches are an example of a negatively phototactic organism. You've probably noticed how they scurry back into dark corners and crevices when you illuminate their late-night snacking party in your kitchen. Moths are positively phototactic. They seem charmed by your porch light, your headlights or your campfire (even if it leads to their untimely demise). While there is no definitive explanation for this phenomenon, there are some interesting theories.

A moth's dark-adapting mechanism responds much more slowly than its light-adapting mechanism. Once the moth comes close to a bright light, it might have a hard time leaving the light since going back into the dark renders it blind for so long. In the case that the moth escapes, it won't remember the problem with flying too near the light and will probably find itself in the same predicament all over again.

Answer 3

They are attracted by visible light. Infrared light (another term for heat) does nothing for them.