this post was submitted on 17 Feb 2024
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breaking news: light pollution is purgatory for bugs (www.nature.com)
submitted 9 months ago* (last edited 9 months ago) by ThisIsAManWhoKnowsHowToGling@lemmy.dbzer0.com to c/science@beehaw.org
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cross-posted from: https://lemmy.dbzer0.com/post/14539490

The bugs around the streetlight are being tricked to think they are going in a straight line. They are doing the aerial equivalent of an ant death spiral.

Preexisting research into bugs circling lights was mainly to see what properties of the lights attracted the bugs, which is how we know that certain LED lights can prevent the bugs from flying towards it.

This study, however, showed that the bugs aren't trying to get to the light at all. The light triggers their dorsal reflex, causing them to recalibrate their sense of direction to keep the light at a fixed angle from their perspective. The bugs think they are going in a straight line, forever, and they never get to where they are going.

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[–] CanadaPlus@lemmy.sdf.org 4 points 9 months ago

Lol, that's the best way of describing it. I wonder if they have a way of being confused that they aren't getting anywhere.

Apparently lit ground can also cause them to flip upside down and fall, and passing under a light causes them to fly in an arc stalling out at the top, which slows them down.