Why are moths attracted to a light?

Question

Why are moths attracted to a light?

Answer 1

Believe it or not moths are not attracted to the light. They are attracted to the extreme darkness behind the light. I know this because I study moths and other insects and have a moth attraction along with other insects that i study.

Answer 2

its the heat theyre attracted to

Answer 3

its natural like your attraction to me

Answer 4

Moths frequently appear to circle artificial lights. One hypothesis advanced to explain this behavior is that moths use a technique of celestial navigation called transverse orientation. By maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon, they can fly in a straight line. Celestial objects are so far away, that even after travelling great distances, the change in angle between the moth and the light source is negligible; further, the moon will always be in the upper part of the visual field or on the horizon. When a moth encounters a much closer artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance, in addition to being often below the horizon. The moth instinctively attempts to correct by turning toward the light, causing airborne moths to come plummeting downwards, and - at close range - which results in a spiral flight path that gets closer and closer to the light source.

Answer 5

Moths fly by the light of the moon it is their navigation system they keep it to one side on the flight out and reverse flying back home. Other light sources throw the navigation to pot and confuse them.

Answer 6

They think it is the moon.

Answer 7

i duno

Answer 8

They think it's the sun.

Answer 9

Moths are drawn to moonlight.

Answer 10

I read somewhere that it's because they think it's the moon, though I'm not quite sure why they want to fly towards the moon. As I can't remember the source, I don't know how reliable this is.

Answer 11

Moths frequently appear to circle artificial lights. One hypothesis advanced to explain this behavior is that moths use a technique of celestial navigation called transverse orientation. By maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon, they can fly in a straight line. Celestial objects are so far away, that even after travelling great distances, the change in angle between the moth and the light source is negligible; further, the moon will always be in the upper part of the visual field or on the horizon. When a moth encounters a much closer artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance, in addition to being often below the horizon. The moth instinctively attempts to correct by turning toward the light, causing airborne moths to come plummeting downwards, and - at close range - which results in a spiral flight path that gets closer and closer to the light source. [1]

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In 1972, Henry Hsiao, now a professor of biomedical engineering, suggested that the reason for moths circling lights may have to do with a visual distortion called a Mach band [2]. He says that they fly towards the darkest part of the sky in pursuit of safety and are thus inclined to circle ambient objects in the Mach band region. This hypothesis is not scientifically accepted and has never been confirmed.[citation needed]

Hsaio says that the celestial navigation theory should cause moths to circle lights, not to head directly toward them, as many are seen to do. He conjectures that moths, which are nocturnal creatures, must find a place to hide from predators when daylight comes, but cannot do so in darkness. Their instinct when morning comes is to fly toward the light (presumably up) and then down again, with some probability landing on a surface which matches their camouflage.[1]

A theory which has been advanced in an attempt to explain the attraction male moths have for candles specifically is based on olfaction. There is evidence that olfaction might be, in some cases, mediated by detection of the infra-red spectra of substances [3]. The spiky infrared spectra of a candle flame happens to contain a number of emission lines which coincide with the vibrational frequencies of the female moth's pheromone [4]. The male moth is thereby powerfully attracted to the flame. Sources, eg. hurricane lamps, with different spike patterns are less powerful attractants.

Night-blooming flowers usually depend on moths (or bats) for pollination, and artificial lighting can draw moths away from the flowers, affecting the plant's ability to reproduce. A way to prevent this is to put a cloth or netting around the lamp. Another way is using a colored light bulb (preferably red). This will take the moth's attention away from the light while still providing light to see by.

Answer 12

becouse light is warm to them not becouse of the brightness of it.

Answer 13

The current theory is: moths are not attracted to light. They fly towards an artificial light as a navigational accident.

Moths navigated at night by the light of the moon.

However, a porch light, for example, is brighter than the moon for a moth flying nearby so he confuses the porch light with the moon, thinking the brighter light is the moon. Unfortunately, keeping the porch light over his right shoulder only works as he flies directly by. As he gets a little bit past, the light is behind him. So he turns to get the light opposite his shoulder again ends up spiraling into the light with every correction he makes