Why are moths attracted to light?

Question

I mean, what the hell?

Answer 1

Well simply, it is all our fault.
Moths historically used the moon as a reference point for navigation at night. They would always use it as means of locating various stopover areas along their line of travel. Moths also are not the smartest insects in the world, and are easily confused by artificial lights, such as spot lights and porch lights. Essentially they are using your porch light as a beacon to find where they are going, but inevitably they are always lost because artificial lights are everywhere and they zoom around many each night aimlessly.

I hope this answers your question!

Answer 2

This is what Wikipedia says:

Moths will circle bright objects, and thus appear to be attracted to light. The favored hypothesis advanced to explain this behavior is that moths navigate by maintaining a constant angular relationship to a bright celestial light, such as the Moon. The Moon is so far away, that even after traveling 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. However, when a moth encounters an artificial light and uses it for navigation, the angle changes noticeably after only a short distance, in addition to often being 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 3

First, not all moths are attracted to light and scientists do not agree on why some are and some are not.
In studies done on the sensitivity of moth optical neurons to light, they have an extremely low threshold, meaning that even very low levels of light will allow the moths to "see". Not see necessarily sharply, but undoubtedly enough to avoid large (dark) objects.

Moths undoubtedly can use lights as a navigational cue, and along with gravitational cues, use the light sources from above to maintain appropriate "up-down" orientation in their environment. Noctuid moths migrate using the moon as a primary reference point.
Many, many moths, if you watch them come to lights, fly *directly* at the light source as they come in, with little indication of any spiral. Many moths can hear, and it is these moths which appear to come more directly at the light. It is possible,
*possible* that these moths are perhaps using *both* a light and sonic cue to get to the light. This does *not*, however, explain why the moths "like" either the light or the sound.

Answer 4

We keep talking about travel reasons, but not why they travel. Moths are nectar feeders for the most part, which means that during their active period they are looking for food. While most flowers are light colors when compared to green leaves, reflected light from stars and the moon "highlight" the flowers these insects are looking for. This draws them to their food. The introduction of artificial lights attracts them as a white flower does in the full moon.

Answer 5

Couple of hypothesis. My favorite states that moths normally fly by the direction of light sources and a strong source brings them in on a distorted flight path. Sometimes they even can circle in to their death.

Answer 6

A moth's eyes, like a human's eyes, comprise mild sensors and regulate in accordance to the quantity of sunshine the sensors stumble on. In intense illumination, mild from each and each and every of the moth's thousands of fixed-concentration lens aspects is channeled to its own sensor (ommatidium). In low illumination, mild from numerous lenses is channeled to the same ommatidium to strengthen mild sensitivity. you probable journey some moments of blindness once you turn on a vivid mild after your eyes have adjusted to darkness, or once you're by marvel in darkness after being in vivid mild. A moth's darkish-adapting mechanism responds much better slowly than its mild-adapting mechanism. once the moth comes on the fringe of a vivid mild, it may have a demanding time leaving the mild when you consider that going decrease back into the darkish renders it blind for thus long. contained in the case that the moth escapes, it received't save in recommendations the mission with flying too close to the mild and could probable discover itself interior the same capture 22 problem all once better.

Answer 7

Celestial navigation using the moon. Your porchlight is a countermeasure installed by the enemies of the moths. But, yeah, they are trying to go somewhere.

Answer 8

moths are atracted to light because they follow the moon light.

Answer 9

There flight path re lies on the moon light but they get confused

Answer 10

don't they have heat vision so the light is the most visible thing at night and it is almost hypnotically drawn to it