What happened to these moths?
All crowded here 11 floors higher, some are dying,
3.10.19, 1:30 pm, Chembur,
19.0522° N, 72.9005° E
- Priti
What happened to these moths?
All crowded here 11 floors higher, some are dying,
3.10.19, 1:30 pm, Chembur,
19.0522° N, 72.9005° E
3 Likes
Moths show positive phototaxis - a kind of taxis, or locomotory movement, that occurs when a whole organism moves towards or away from stimulus of light. Phototaxis is called positive if the movement is in the direction of increasing light intensity and negative if the direction is opposite.
Airborne locomotion is connected to movement towards a light source. This innate response is common among insects that fly primarily during the night utilizing transverse orientation vis-à-vis the light of the moon for orientation. Artificial lighting in cities and populated areas results in a more pronounced positive response compared to that with the distant light of the moon, resulting in the organism repeatedly responding to this new stimulus and innately flying toward it.
A popular theory for attraction to light is that insects use it as a navigational aid. An insect flying north, for example, is able to judge its direction by keeping a natural source of light, such as the sun or moon, on its right. This method works well as long as the source of light remains both constant and at a distance.
If an insect encounters a round incandescent porch light, however, it becomes confused by its source. This explains the peculiar behaviour of a moth continuously encircling a light source – it instinctively wants to keep the light on a certain side of its body whilst navigating its route.
Reference: Phototaxis - Wikipedia
https://www.rentokil.com/blog/insects-attracted-to-light/#.XZft87lX40M
In the pictures it seems that the moths got confused by the tubelight and probably starved to death in this process.
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They are mainly around the window where sunlight is directly coming
And the dead moths are lying there as well
What could be the reason
Why are they staying at such great heights
Are you sure some of the moths dead? Do you any photos for the same? Are you assuming this based on their motionlessness? Did you touch/ prod them with anything to make certain they are dead?
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Yes
I did take a video of the same
I purposely blew a little air on them to identify dead from motionless one
Couldn’t upload the video here
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Artificial lights within the building at night can confuse the insect.
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