Artificial night lighting inhibits feeding in moths

Langevelde, Frank van; Grunsven, Roy H. A. van; Veenendaal, E.M.; Fijen, Thijs P.M.

doi:10.1098/rsbl.2016.0874

Cited by 80 publications

(65 citation statements)

References 19 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The negative population trends of moth species that are nocturnally active or have positive phototaxis agree with findings at the level of individuals, where moths show reduced foraging, pollen transport, dispersal and reproduction when subjected to artificial light compared to dark conditions (Altermatt et al., ; Macgregor et al., ; Van Geffen et al., ; Van Langevelde et al., ). In experiments on individual behaviour, the effects of lamps that differ in spectral composition can be tested (e.g.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Declines in moth populations stress the need for conserving dark nights

Langevelde

Braamburg-Annegarn

Huigens

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Given the global continuous rise, artificial light at night is often considered a driving force behind moth population declines. Although negative effects on individuals have been shown, there is no evidence for effects on population sizes to date. Therefore, we compared population trends of Dutch macromoth fauna over the period 1985-2015 between moth species that differ in phototaxis and adult circadian rhythm. We found that moth species that show positive phototaxis or are nocturnally active have stronger negative population trends than species that are not attracted to light or are diurnal species. Our results indicate that artificial light at night is an important factor in explaining declines in moth populations in regions with high artificial night sky brightness. Our study supports efforts to reduce the impacts of artificial light at night by promoting lamps that do not attract insects and reduce overall levels of illumination in rural areas to reverse declines of moth populations.

show abstract

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 76%

Declines in moth populations stress the need for conserving dark nights

Langevelde

Braamburg-Annegarn

Huigens

et al. 2018

Global Change Biology

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Possibly, these effects could be the result of changes in duration of feeding by moths under different lamp types; moths spend less time feeding under artificial light than in darkness, and the effect is strongest for lighting containing a high proportion of short wavelengths (van Langevelde et al. ), such as many commercially available LEDs, including those used in our study (Fig. ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 90%

“…Their interactions with flowers can be directly affected through reduced feeding (van Langevelde et al. ), and we have previously found that pollen transport by nocturnal moths can be disrupted by the presence of full‐night (FN) lighting by HPS street lights (Macgregor et al. ): Moths at lit sites were attracted upwards to street lights, reducing the time they spent at the level of the field margin, where interactions with flowers might take place, compared to unlit sites.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effects of street lighting technologies on the success and quality of pollination in a nocturnally pollinated plant

et al. 2019

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Artificial light at night (ALAN) is an increasingly important driver of global change. Lighting directly affects plants, but few studies have investigated indirect effects mediated by interacting organisms. Nocturnal Lepidoptera are globally important pollinators, and pollen transport by moths is disrupted by lighting. Many street lighting systems are being replaced with novel, energy-efficient lighting, with unknown ecological consequences. Using the wildflower Silene latifolia, we compared pollination success and quality at experimentally lit and unlit plots, testing two major changes to street lighting technology: in lamp type, from high-pressure sodium lamps to light-emitting diodes, and in lighting regime, from fullnight (FN) to part-night (PN) lighting. We predicted that lighting would reduce pollination. S. latifolia was pollinated both diurnally and nocturnally. Contrary to our predictions, flowers under FN lighting had higher pollination success than flowers under either PN lighting or unlit controls, which did not significantly differ from each other. Lamp type, lighting regime, and distance from the light all significantly affected aspects of pollination quality. These results confirm that street lighting could affect plant reproduction through indirect effects mediated by nocturnal insects, and further highlight the possibility for novel lighting technologies to mitigate the effects of ALAN on ecosystems.

show abstract

“…Artificial light at night affects insects in more ways than mere attraction. It has been shown to interfere with pollination (Macgregor et al., ), feeding (van Langevelde et al., ), chemical communication (van Geffen et al., ), mating behavior (van Geffen et al., ), and disrupt initiation of diapause (van Geffen et al., ). It is currently unknown to what extent the model presented here is applicable for other impacts of artificial light on insects, besides attraction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Colors of attraction: Modeling insect flight to light behavior

et al. 2018

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Light sources attract nocturnal flying insects, but some lamps attract more insects than others. The relation between the properties of a light source and the number of attracted insects is, however, poorly understood. We developed a model to quantify the attractiveness of light sources based on the spectral output. This model is fitted using data from field experiments that compare a large number of different light sources. We validated this model using two additional datasets, one for all insects and one excluding the numerous Diptera. Our model facilitates the development and application of light sources that attract fewer insects without the need for extensive field tests and it can be used to correct for spectral composition when formulating hypotheses on the ecological impact of artificial light. In addition, we present a tool allowing the conversion of the spectral output of light sources to their relative insect attraction based on this model.

show abstract

Artificial night lighting inhibits feeding in moths

Cited by 80 publications

References 19 publications

Declines in moth populations stress the need for conserving dark nights

Declines in moth populations stress the need for conserving dark nights

Effects of street lighting technologies on the success and quality of pollination in a nocturnally pollinated plant

Colors of attraction: Modeling insect flight to light behavior

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About