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 ...

For decades, scientists have believed that insects were attracted to bright, artificial light. This has spurred the creation of countless "insect lights" designed to attract and kill bugs. But now, ...

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 ...

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 ...

We've all noticed how much insects love to fly around lights. But why? Many answers have been proposed; some have suggested that insects have a direct attraction to the light itself; others have said ...

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 ...

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 ...

Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that's not exactly what's going on, a new study suggests.

WASHINGTON — Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that’s not exactly what’s going on, a new study ...