Are night insects attracted to lamps because of heat or light?

Question

Please help me because this is the science fair project question please???????

Answer 1

Moths fly by night, but can have very good night vision. Of course, they need some light to see by, particularly moonlight and starlight.

Moths and other night-flying insects fly in a straight line by reference to the relative direction of the moon. Because the moon is so far away, the direction to the moont is fixed at any one time, no matter how far the moth flies (and the moths have evolved to take the moon's direction of travel across the sky into account).

However, when they see a bright light close by, and confuse it with the moon,their navigation instinct gets out of whack. In this case, instead of being constant, the angle to the light varies as the insect flies past. So instead of travelling in a straight line, they fly in a curve around the object, when trying to keep the source of light at a constant angle to their flight path. (That is why the spiral inwards towards the source of light).

Incidentally, insects (and birds) that fly by day navigate by the sun; but there is less chance of another bright source of light confusing them

Answer 2

From what I recall it's because of the light. More specifically, before there was artificial light around, insects would all be attracted towards the moon. This was a common light that they would all be attracted to and congregate towards. The reason for this is so that once they congregate in an area they will mate.

Answer 3

They are trying to use the light as a guide to which direction they should go. In nature, the light available at night comes from the moon, and insects use the direction of the light to know which way to go. But they are not trying to reach the moon. Artificial light confuses them and they go right toward it.

Answer 4

Because of the light

Answer 5

Probably both, but mostly because of the light