Historical behavioural data disentangle evolutionary and environmental drivers of recent declines in insect attraction to light

Entomologists monitor insect population trends by surveying individuals attracted to artificial lights at night with the assumption that flight-to-light behaviour is fixed. However, emerging data suggest that entomological light traps are rapidly losing efficacy relative to other trap types, and the dramatic growth in anthropogenic light pollution over the past century has been identified as a probable cause. To investigate whether decades of strong selection against a conspicuously maladaptive behaviour have decreased insect attraction to light and compromised light trapping as a survey method, we compared the light attraction of urban and rural Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) corn earworm moths with historical behavioural records from 1967. Our results suggest that the flight-to-light response has remained relatively constant over time but may be strongly influenced by environmental visual clutter even in seemingly dark habitats. These findings call into question the use of light traps in long-term surveys, as the darkness within which they operate is rapidly deteriorating.

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Publication Details

Journal
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Published
2025-12-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1098/rspb.2025.2319
Primary Topic
Impact of Light on Environment and Health
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
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article

Historical behavioural data disentangle evolutionary and environmental drivers of recent declines in insect attraction to light

Dalton C. Ludwick, Wei-Ping Chan, Silvana Viera Paula-Moraes, D. R. Cook et al.
Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological Sciences
Impact of Light on Environment and Health
article

Historical behavioural data disentangle evolutionary and environmental drivers of recent declines in insect attraction to light

Dalton C. Ludwick, Wei-Ping Chan, Silvana Viera Paula-Moraes, D. R. Cook, Katelyn A Kesheimer, Whitney Crow, Fangneng Huang, Anders S. Huseth, G. David Buntin, Dominic D. Reisig, Avalon C.S. Owens, Imogen Daszak
article en

Abstract

Entomologists monitor insect population trends by surveying individuals attracted to artificial lights at night with the assumption that flight-to-light behaviour is fixed. However, emerging data suggest that entomological light traps are rapidly losing efficacy relative to other trap types, and the dramatic growth in anthropogenic light pollution over the past century has been identified as a probable cause. To investigate whether decades of strong selection against a conspicuously maladaptive behaviour have decreased insect attraction to light and compromised light trapping as a survey method, we compared the light attraction of urban and rural Helicoverpa zea (Boddie) corn earworm moths with historical behavioural records from 1967. Our results suggest that the flight-to-light response has remained relatively constant over time but may be strongly influenced by environmental visual clutter even in seemingly dark habitats. These findings call into question the use of light traps in long-term surveys, as the darkness within which they operate is rapidly deteriorating.

Proceedings of the Royal Society B Biological SciencesVol. 292(2061)
University of Nebraska–Lincoln (US), Northeastern University (US), Florida Department of Education (US), Agricultural Research Service (US), Louisiana State University Agricultural Center (US), Bayer (United States) (US), University of Georgia (US), Texas A&M University System (US), Roland Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (IN), Institute of Plant Biology (HU), Institute of Crop Science (JP), International Plant Nutrition Institute (US), Bayer (Germany) (DE), Auburn University (US), University of West Florida (US), Michigan State University (US), Mississippi State University (US)
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 36%
Impact of Light on Environment and Health
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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