Why Do Insects Always Move Towards The Light?

Insects are the most numerous organisms on our planet. During a great part of the day they are active, but not all of them. Some bugs hunt or search for a partner during the night. Insects typically move and navigate themselves with the help of the moon light during the night. These insects are capable of phototaxis.

Phototaxis is the phenomenon when organisms are attracted to light and they use this light for navigation. There are two types if insects according when it comes to the effect phototaxis have upon them: positively phototactic organisms, which move towards the light and negatively phototactic organisms, which are hiding in dark places and moving away from the light.

During the night, the only source of light for insects and animals is the moon. Some insects are bioluminescent and they attract their partners in such way.

The biggest light attracting insect is the moth. Moths are insects which are related to butterflies. In the world there are approximately 160,000 species of moths. Some species of moths are active during the day and others during the night.

When people started using artificial lights, bugs started to get confused by them and they started bumping into them. You can see this occurrence even today.

It is interesting that insects are not attracted to the weaker sources of light, such as candles.

The best explanation for the phenomenon is that insects that are active at night use the light for navigation only, nothing else, although this is something deadly for them because many insects die while trying to get to the source.  So, make sure you turn off your outdoor lights while you’re sleeping during. You don’t want to attract (or kill) any bugs, do you?