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The bugs around the streetlight are being tricked to think they are going in a straight line. They are doing the aerial equivalent of an ant death spiral. (www.nature.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science@lemmy.world
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/14539407

breaking news: light pollution sends bugs to hell

Preexisting research into bugs circling lights was mainly to see what properties of the lights attracted the bugs, which is how we know that certain LED lights can prevent the bugs from flying towards it.

This study, however, showed that the bugs aren't trying to get to the light at all. The light triggers their dorsal reflex, causing them to recalibrate their sense of direction to keep the light at a fixed angle from their perspective. The bugs think they are going in a straight line, forever, and they never get to where they are going.

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[-] Confused_Emus@lemmy.world 14 points 9 months ago

I saw Anton’s video on this and get what’s happening here. But at the same time, can we really say these bugs were “going” somewhere to begin with? Are they just as happy flying in circles for hours on end as flying in a straight line? Would they know the difference?

[-] ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com 22 points 9 months ago

That is a very good point. My concern is that some of these bugs are pollinators, and spending god only knows how long circling that light is wasting time and energy they could be using to pollinate

[-] Confused_Emus@lemmy.world 5 points 9 months ago

Yes! That is definitely a concern i didn’t consider. I feel like downward focused light can only be helpful. Aside from the flying insects, less light pollution is better for our telescopes.

[-] Ephera@lemmy.ml 4 points 9 months ago

I mean, even if they did truly just set off in a random direction, they would still probably do so in hopes of finding food, water, mating opportunities etc..
Circling lamps isn't going to aid their chance of survival, and we do already have a pretty big problem of insects dying from climate change and pesticides.

this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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