SCIENCE: MOTHS ARE NOT ACTUALLY ATTRACTED TO LIGHT

A shocking new study has discovered something unimaginable: Moths are not actually drawn to light. According to a study published in the January 30 journal Nature Communications, the moths are just confused. By using motion-capture cameras, researchers found that when the moths flew around a light source, they were tilting their backs toward the light and keeping their bodies in that direction – with their backs toward the light. When artificial light does not interfere, nocturnal insects keep their backs pointed toward whatever direction is brightest, which is typically the sky versus the ground. This trick has evolved over eons of evolution, helping them know which way is up and keeping them level during their night flights. However, when the insects pass by an artificial light source, they become disoriented because the light is from all around them, not just in the sky.
* It’s like your dad driving at night.
* Anybody want to bother sending these geniuses video of a completely empty sky, with every moth within 3 miles circling around a lone streetlight? Me neither.
* We had electric lights for, what, 140 years now? The moths have had plenty of time to evolve past this.
* Also according to these researchers: When you open a can of cat food and your cat comes running to the sound of the can opener, it’s not hungry. It’s checking to make sure you dispose of the can properly.