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Altermatt, F., & Ebert, D. (2016). Reduced flight-to-light behaviour of moth populations exposed to long-term urban light pollution. Biol Lett, 12(4), 20160111.
Abstract: The globally increasing light pollution is a well-recognized threat to ecosystems, with negative effects on human, animal and plant wellbeing. The most well-known and widely documented consequence of light pollution is the generally fatal attraction of nocturnal insects to artificial light sources. However, the evolutionary consequences are unknown. Here we report that moth populations from urban areas with high, globally relevant levels of light pollution over several decades show a significantly reduced flight-to-light behaviour compared with populations of the same species from pristine dark-sky habitats. Using a common garden setting, we reared moths from 10 different populations from early-instar larvae and experimentally compared their flight-to-light behaviour under standardized conditions. Moths from urban populations had a significant reduction in the flight-to-light behaviour compared with pristine populations. The reduced attraction to light sources of 'city moths' may directly increase these individuals' survival and reproduction. We anticipate that it comes with a reduced mobility, which negatively affects foraging as well as colonization ability. As nocturnal insects are of eminent significance as pollinators and the primary food source of many vertebrates, an evolutionary change of the flight-to-light behaviour thereby potentially cascades across species interaction networks.
Keywords: Lepidoptera; Yponomeuta; adaptation; environmental change; natural selection
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Ashfaq, M., Khanam, S., Khan, M., Rasheed, F., & Hafeez, S. (2005). Insect orientation to various color lights in the agricultural biomes of Faisalabad. Pak Entomol, 27(1), 49–52.
Abstract: This experiment was conducted in the area of Punjab Agriculture Research Station (PARS) and Chak No.33 JB Faisalabad to evaluate the response insects to varying wavelengths of light. During experiment, lights of six different colors (blue, green, yellow, red, black and white) were tested. All lights were arranged in a line on agriculture land, close to Faisalabad Airport. Tree rows/blocks, forest nursery, fruit garden, wheat, maize and fodder crops were the main vegetative covers in the vicinity. Each selected color light was properly projected on 1 m^2
vertical screen (made of white cotton fabric) placed one meter high above the ground. All lights were kept on simultaneously for half an hour and the insects attracted on both sides of the screens were collected in tubs containing soapy water. At the end of experiment, the collection was shifted to properly labeled storage bottles for counting and identification into respective orders. The highest number of insects was observed in container placed under black light (ultraviolet light), while the lowest in that of red light. Similarly, the common insect orders frequented among all color lights were Diptera, Coleoptera and Lepidoptera respectively. The experimental results indicated that insects are attracted in more number on lights with short wavelengths and high frequencies and vice a versa. Keywords: Animals; Insects; Faisalabad; Pakistan; Diptera; Coleoptera; Lepidoptera
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Grenis, K., Tjossem, B., & Murphy, S. (2015). Predation of larval Lepidoptera in habitat fragments varies spatially and temporally but is not affected by light pollution. J. of Insect Cons., 19(3), 559â566.
Abstract: As human populations continue to expand, many more species are affected by habitat fragmentation and urbanization. One of the most common themes in studies of fragmented habitats is finding higher rates of predation along habitat edges. However, field studies supporting this pattern are heavily influenced by avian literature and may not apply similarly to other organisms, such as invertebrates. Field studies of predation are typically performed during the day or do not distinguish between day and night; these studies therefore overlook daily fluctuations in predation and may miss important effects that occur solely at night, such as light pollution from streetlights. We tested whether predation of larval Lepidoptera differed between edge and core habitats and also whether predation along the habitat edge varied in response to light pollution from streetlights. We placed larvae in the core of suburban habitat patches and along the habitat edge, both under streetlights as well as between streetlights where it was dark. We found that predation rate increased in both edge and core habitats over the summer. Early season, we found daily fluctuations in predation dynamics with greater predation along the habitat edge than in the habitat core during the day, but not at night. Additionally, we found that streetlights did not affect predation rate along the habitat edge. Our results suggest that increased predation along habitat edges may be a diurnal effect.
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Hauptfleisch, M., & Dalton, C. (2015). Arthropod phototaxis and its possible effect on bird strike risk at two Namibian airports. Appl. Ecol. & Environ. Res., 13(4), 957–965.
Abstract: Aircraft wildlife collisions are a global safety and financial problem for the aviation industry, with birds being the main concern. In Namibia, 97% of collisions at Namibiaâs two main airports are reported to be with insectivorous birds. Phototaxis was identified as a major attractant to insectivorous
birds, which feed on the arthropods attracted to airport apron and terminal lights. This study considered the effect of light as an attraction at the rurally situated Hosea Kutako International and urban Eros airports. It further investigated the attractiveness of light colour (or wavelength) on arthropod abundance, biomass and diversity. The study found that phototaxis was a significant factor at Hosea Kutako only, and that white light was the main attractant for arthropods, specifically for large moths (Order Lepidoptera), while yellow and orange light attracted significantly less arthropods. The study indicates a high likelihood that the Hosea Kutako apron lights (white) are an important attractant for arthropods, and therefore indirectly insectivorous birds, which can be reduced by replacing them with orange or yellow filters. Keywords: Animals; airport; arthropods; birds; bird strike; phototaxis; Lepidoptera; Namibia
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Minnaar, C., Boyles, J. G., Minnaar, I. A., Sole, C. L., McKechnie, A. E., & McKenzie, A. (2014). Stacking the odds: light pollution may shift the balance in an ancient predator-prey arms race. J Appl Ecol, 52(2), 522–531.
Abstract: 1. Artificial night lighting threatens to disrupt strongly conserved light-dependent processes in animals and may have cascading effects on ecosystems as species interactions become altered. Insectivorous bats and their prey have been involved in a nocturnal, co-evolutionary arms race for millions of years. Lights may interfere with anti-bat defensive behaviours in moths, and disrupt a complex and globally ubiquitous interaction between bats and insects, ultimately leading to detrimental consequences for ecosystems on a global scale.
2. We combined experimental and mathematical approaches to determine effects of light pollution on a free-living bat–insect community. We compared prey selection by Cape serotine bats Neoromicia capensis in naturally unlit and artificially lit conditions using a manipulative field experiment, and developed a probabilistic model based on a suite of prey-selection factors to explain differences in observed diet. 3.Moth consumption by N. capensis was low under unlit conditions (mean percentage volume ± SD: 5·91 ± 6·25%), while moth consumption increased sixfold (mean percentage volume ± SD: 35·42 ± 17·90%) under lit conditions despite a decrease in relative moth abundance. Predictive prey-selection models that included high-efficacy estimates for eared-moth defensive behaviour found most support given diet data for bats in unlit conditions. Conversely, models that estimated eared-moth defensive behaviour as absent or low found more support given diet data for bats in lit conditions. Our models therefore suggest the increase in moth consumption was a result of light-induced, decreased eared-moth defensive behaviour. 4. Policy implications. In the current context of unyielding growth in global light pollution, we predict that specialist moth-eating bats and eared moths will face ever-increasing challenges to survival through increased resource competition and predation risk, respectively. Lights should be developed to be less attractive to moths, with the goal of reducing effects on moth behaviour. Unfortunately, market preference for broad-spectrum lighting and possible effects on other taxa make development of moth-friendly lighting improbable. Mitigation should therefore focus on the reduction of temporal, spatial and luminance redundancy in outdoor lighting. Restriction of light inside nature reserves and urban greenbelts can help maintain dark refugia for moth-eating bats and moths, and may become important for their persistence. |