* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Wednesday, October 22, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    How a Gemma model helped discover a new potential cancer therapy pathway – blog.google

    How a Gemma Model Revealed a Breakthrough Pathway for Cancer Treatment

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

    Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

    AMC brings first new Dolby Experience to Gwinnett since 2017 – Wyoming News Now

    AMC Launches First New Dolby Experience in Gwinnett Since 2017

    Hetzel Design: blending architecture and entertainment – Blooloop

    Hetzel Design: Where Architecture and Entertainment Unite in Perfect Harmony

    Country music legend rushed to hospital year after heart surgery. Here’s what we know – PennLive.com

    Country Music Legend Rushed to Hospital One Year After Heart Surgery – What’s Happening Now?

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Strictly Come Dancing results: Chris Robshaw is eliminated while drag queen La Voix escapes dance-off – Yahoo

    Placer County town of Loomis considers entertainment zone for downtown – CBS News

    Loomis Unveils Thrilling New Entertainment Zone to Revitalize Downtown

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    Office Technology: Dealers’ Managed IT Revenue up Nearly 30% – The Cannata Report –

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 E Network Technology Group Limited Closes $1.5 Million Convertible Promissory Note Offering – Quiver Quantitative

    3 Technology Stocks to Buy Now – Yahoo Finance

    3 Must-Buy Tech Stocks You Can’t Afford to Miss Right Now

    ‘New frontier’: Austin leaders start discussions on air taxi technology – KXAN Austin

    Austin Leaders Ignite Exciting Conversations on the Future of Air Taxi Technology

    How a Gemma model helped discover a new potential cancer therapy pathway – blog.google

    How a Gemma Model Revealed a Breakthrough Pathway for Cancer Treatment

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Science

Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs during Matariki’s longer nights? Turn the lights down low

June 30, 2024
in Science
Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs during Matariki’s longer nights? Turn the lights down low
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

fireflies

Credit: Pixabay/CC0 Public Domain

In a world increasingly affected by light pollution, we can take time during the shorter days and longer nights around Matariki to appreciate the superpowers of our nocturnal bugs.

As diurnal creatures, our world view is strongly biased towards a daytime perspective. We pay more attention to events happening during daylight, and sometimes overlook the fascinating world of nocturnal insects.

Human eyes are very poor at gathering enough light particles—photons—to see clearly at night. We need the light of a full moon to have much hope of navigating safely.

For millennia, then, we’ve used fire and more recently electricity to artificially light up the night. Nocturnal insects now deal with a very different nightscape than they did even a century ago.

It’s been estimated that 23% of the world’s land area is affected by light pollution. This is thought to be one of the factors contributing to insect decline worldwide.

Recent research suggests about a third of insects attracted to artificial lights will die by morning, often from exhaustion. If those insects have been prevented from mating and laying eggs, there are huge implications for population survival, as well as for ecosystem functions such as pollination and biocontrol.

Nocturnal superpowers

Many bugs are more active at night, most likely to avoid daytime predators. Some can also make their own light. New Zealand glow worms, the larvae of fungus gnats, use bioluminescence to hunt.

Elsewhere in the world, some flying beetles are commonly known as fireflies due to the fiery crackles of light they produce to confuse and ward off predators.

Moonlight is roughly one million times less intense than sunlight. But nocturnal insects can navigate, see color and detect movement with only the light from the stars and moon.

This superpower is due in part to their incredible compound eyes. These are made up of millions of tiny lenses that each capture the maximum amount of light from a small field of view, and focus it onto a bundle of photoreceptors.

The ability to make sense of very low light levels is also due to higher contrast sensitivity at the expense of detail. Moths in particular boast several adaptations that aid in navigating and perceiving in low light.

Many New Zealand moths are nocturnal, and their eyes are largely specialized for motion detection, differentiating between intensities of light rather than distinct wavelengths.

Compared with day-flying butterflies, which can perceive more detail and differentiate wavelengths as colors, moths have evolved greater perception of contrast and large-scale changes in their visual environment. But this comes at the expense of spatial sensitivity.

LED lights and moths

Contrary to myth, nocturnal insects do not fly around artificial lights because they confuse them with the moon or stars. Recent research, filming moths with high-speed cameras, found they use moonlight and starlight to differentiate between “up” and “down” as they fly.

Their erratic flight around your outside light is actually due to them trying to orientate themselves to a nonexistent horizon.

The color of artificial lights can also affect how attractive they are to nocturnal insects. In recent years, Dunedin (like many cities around the world) has been replacing old high-pressure sodium bulbs in street lights with LEDs that use less energy and have lower maintenance costs.

But this hasn’t been so great for night-flying insects. Moths can detect light wavelengths as low as 300 nanometers (invisible to human eyes) and as high as 700nm (orange-red to humans). But many have a peak sensitivity at 400nm (human blue).

The old sodium bulbs produced a warm orange or golden glow. But the brighter LEDs commonly produce a cool white light at the blue end of the spectrum, right at peak sensitivity for many moths. Warmer LED lights (with a lower color temperature) can be less attractive to flying insects, and also help reduce light pollution across the city.

Helping our night bugs

Closer to home, we can make a difference for our own backyard bugs (and other nocturnal and twilight fauna) by reducing light pollution.

Something as simple as closing curtains at night will discourage flying insects from crashing into windows—and getting inside!

Using motion-activated outside lights, rather than having them permanently on, can reduce the deaths toll in your local moth populations. And selecting warmer colored light bulbs and fairy lights will make them less attractive to nocturnal insects.

Finally, turning off your lights and venturing outside will not only give your backyard bugs a break, but also help you appreciate the wonders of the night sky at Matariki.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.The Conversation

Citation:
Want to help our precious nocturnal bugs during Matariki’s longer nights? Turn the lights down low (2024, June 30)
retrieved 30 June 2024
from https://phys.org/news/2024-06-precious-nocturnal-bugs-matariki-longer.html

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no
part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : Phys.org – https://phys.org/news/2024-06-precious-nocturnal-bugs-matariki-longer.html

Tags: Nocturnalpreciousscience
Previous Post

Hurricane Beryl, first of 2024 season, bears down on Caribbean

Next Post

Wimbledon 2024: How to watch the tennis tournament, free livestream, updates and more

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky remembered for his impact on the chess world – NPR

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky: Honoring a Timeless Chess Legacy

October 22, 2025
Seattle’s Creative Economy: Building Talent, Culture, and Community – GeekWire

Seattle’s Creative Economy: How Talent, Culture, and Community Are Shaping the Future

October 22, 2025
Sacramento city leaders approve adding 2 entertainment zones in midtown – CBS News

Sacramento City Leaders Approve Two Thrilling New Entertainment Zones in Midtown

October 22, 2025
Self-efficacy mediates the effect of hope on health promotion intention in Chinese stroke patients – Nature

How Hope Boosts Health Motivation in Chinese Stroke Patients Through Self-Efficacy

October 22, 2025
Arizona AG sues to force House Speaker Johnson to seat Democrat Adelita Grijalva – NBC News

Arizona AG sues to force House Speaker Johnson to seat Democrat Adelita Grijalva – NBC News

October 22, 2025
Historic achievement: Governor Ferguson, Ecology celebrate nuclear waste officially being turned into glass at Hanford Site | Governor Bob Ferguson – Governor Ferguson (.gov)

Historic Breakthrough: Governor Ferguson and Ecology Celebrate Nuclear Waste Transformed into Glass at Hanford Site

October 22, 2025
Transcript: Mission to Mars — Bad science fiction – Financial Times

Mission to Mars: When Science Fiction Takes a Dark Turn

October 22, 2025
Science Hill, South Greene volleyball win TSSAA state tournament openers – WCYB

Science Hill and South Greene Dominate Opening Matches in TSSAA State Volleyball Tournament

October 22, 2025
GCC Influencer Market Jumps 75% As Lifestyle Creators Lead Growth – Net Influencer

GCC Influencer Market Soars 75% Fueled by Lifestyle Creators Leading the Boom

October 22, 2025
A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

A look into new technology at Columbia University that could help prevent a dangerous pregnancy complication – ABC7 New York

October 22, 2025

Categories

Archives

October 2025
M T W T F S S
 12345
6789101112
13141516171819
20212223242526
2728293031  
« Sep    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (880)
  • Economy (902)
  • Entertainment (21,773)
  • General (17,740)
  • Health (9,943)
  • Lifestyle (914)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (902)
  • Politics (912)
  • Science (16,112)
  • Sports (21,401)
  • Technology (15,881)
  • World (885)

Recent News

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky remembered for his impact on the chess world – NPR

Grandmaster Daniel Naroditsky: Honoring a Timeless Chess Legacy

October 22, 2025
Seattle’s Creative Economy: Building Talent, Culture, and Community – GeekWire

Seattle’s Creative Economy: How Talent, Culture, and Community Are Shaping the Future

October 22, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version