Previously, scientists assumed that artificial lighting negatively affects the insect population, but this is not true.
The authors in the new work compared 26 sites inroads where there was hedge or grass, illuminated by a lantern, and a similar number of areas without light. When studying insects in these areas, the authors favored caterpillars, which usually remain close to where they hatched until they learn to fly.
As a result, it was found that the insect population decreased by 47% in hedges and by 37% in roadside lawns illuminated by lanterns. The caterpillars of the moth were chosen as the object of the study.
The reason is that females, most likely, do not leave offspring in such places.
Douglas Boyce, lead author of the article
Lighting also changes the feeding behavior of caterpillars:they start eating more. According to the authors, due to the unusual lighting, the insects did not know how to behave and began to eat more in order to speed up development.
Biologists found that the disorder was the mostpronounced in areas illuminated by LED lamps, in contrast to high pressure sodium lamps or older low pressure sodium lamps, which emit a yellow-orange glow, less like sunlight.
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