Read what you wrote about moths. https://www.nationalgeographic.co.uk/animals/2018/10/why-insects-moths-are-so-attracted-bright-lights#:~:text=Like%20a%20moth%20to%20a,confuse%20the%20animals'%20navigational%20systems.&text=It's%20a%20familiar%20sight%2C%20especially,eaten%20by%20predators%20or%20overheat. It’s a familiar sight, especially in the summertime: moths and other insects gathered around lights like lamps. Often, creatures entrained in such a glow get eaten by predators or overheat. While common, it’s not immediately obvious: how could insects be so thoroughly tricked, lured to their death by light on such a grand scale? Like the tragic tale of Romeo and Juliet, the story of the lamp and moth is one of fatal attraction. Being primarily nocturnal creatures, moths evolved to travel by the glimmer of the moon, by a method called transverse orientation. “[Transverse orientation] is sort of like us keeping the north star in a certain position so we know where we are,” says Jeff Smith, curator of the moth collection at the Bohart Museum of Entomology. In the same way, it’s thought the moths keep the light source at a certain position in relation to their body to guide them, Smith explains. Enter lamp, stage left What moth evolution couldn’t account for was the proliferation of 24/7 electric light in our modern world. Indeed, the day that Thomas Edison patented the lightbulb—January 27, 1880, which paved the way for global distribution of electric illumination—was a dark day in moth history. “It’s all gone awry because we’ve provided so many artificial moons,” says Lynn Kimsey, professor of entomology at UC Davis. Elements within moth eyes are tuned to faint light, and act “like miniature telescopes.” Thus when they’re faced with powerful artificial illumination, it can act as a “super-stimulant,” Kimsey says. (Related: These moths drink the tears of sleeping birds) “When you’ve got really bright lights it’s almost irresistible.

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