Flying insects are known to make a beeline for lights in the dark, as the saying goes, "like moths to a flame." Now, scientists have figured out why insects are so keen on light, but it's not because ...

The insects flying in circles around your porch light aren’t captivated by the light. Instead, they may have lost track of which way is up, high-speed infrared camera data suggest. Moths and other ...

It’s an observation as old as humans gathering around campfires: Light at night can draw an erratically circling crowd of insects. In art, music, and literature, this spectacle is an enduring metaphor ...

At night in the Costa Rican cloud forest, a small team of international scientists switched on a light and waited. Soon, insects big and small descended out of the darkness. Moths with spots like ...

Turn on a light outside at night, and it won't be long before a bevy of insects start careening wildly around it, apparently drawn in "like a moth to a flame," as the saying goes. Now, in a series of ...

A new study offers an alternative to earlier explanations for why moths and other bugs are attracted to artificial sources of illumination. By Joshua Sokol Moths and other insects are drawn to lights ...

Have you ever wondered why that moth that accidentally got into your house last night keeps buzzing around the ceiling light or why lighted mosquito traps work so well? While some have always said ...

Artificial light is bad news for a wide range of wildlife, but it can be a particular challenge for a unique subset of species: those that make their own glow. "With bioluminescent creatures, you can ...

Samuel Fabian receives funding from the European Research Council and a National Geographic Explorer Grant. Jamie Theobald receives funding from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Air Force ...