Experts say closing curtains and turning off lights will help protect 'disoriented' moths from 'freezing to death'
It's a practice that – thankfully – we haven’t had to employ since The Blitz. But now, an expert has suggested that people should close their curtains and turn off lights at night to protect insects.
Dr Avalon Owens, a researcher in organismic and evolutionary biology at Harvard University, said light pollution is wreaking havoc on small creatures such as moths.
And this can be devastating for the food chain – as these insects pollinate plants and are one of the main sources of food for frogs, birds and bats.
Speaking at the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston, Dr Owens explained that insects rely on the difference between day and night to regulate their activities.
But because the amount of light in the world is ‘growing exponentially’, it can seriously disorient small creatures that have evolved to be sensitive to it.
‘If you’re a moth that comes out at night to pollinate a flower, in your brain you’re keeping track of when it’s dark and when it’s light,’ she said.
‘If it never gets really dark, this can be really bad.
‘The length of day also tells an animal where they are in the year. For example, once the days start to get shorter, they start preparing for winter by eating more food or hibernating.’
People should close their curtains and turn off lights at night to protect insects, experts say (file photo)
Moths can find artificial light so disorientating they 'essentially freeze to death' in winter (file photo)
She cited a study on the leaf mining moth that indicated artificial light was so disorienting they ‘essentially freeze to death’ in winter.
In big cities there is now light ‘everywhere’, but it’s in the countryside where excess light can have the biggest impact.
‘It’s people’s vacation homes in these beautiful remote areas where it’s the only light visible for miles and miles – that’s just so much more impactful,’ she said.
‘There’s a giant aggregation of insects that you’ll get at lights. We don’t know exactly how fatal it is, but one estimate is that 33 per cent of insects attracted to light die before morning.’
She said one easy way to mitigate light pollution is by closing your curtains at night.
‘Windows are a huge source of light pollution,’ she explained. ‘But you don’t have to walk around your house in the dark.
‘You can even get automatic curtain-closing technology so you don’t need to remember. I’m also not saying you should get rid of your outside security lighting but you could use motion activators.’
