WHY MOTHS ARE ATTRACTED TO STRONG LIGHT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 14, Issue 95, 8 February 1950, Page 6

WHY MOTHS ARE ATTRACTED TO STRONG LIGHT

Everyone knows that moths are attracted, for some reason or another, to strong light but few people know why. In the Bay of Plenty during the summer moths Will fly through open windows in their hundreds, drawn by an electric light shining in a room. Too often they are accompanied by mosquitoes. A possi/ble reason why moths cannot resist light was given by the English novelist John Moore, who writes about the Midlands. One of his favourite activities is catching moths. He catches them by setting up a powerful lamp in a wood or on a heath and laying a white sheet on the ground. This reflects the light, moths fly to it in hundreds. Inexorable Force Why do moths come to light? It is, he explained, because of an inexorable force which also causes flowers grown in pots indoors to bend towards the sun. “The light,” said Moore, “doesn’t represent for the moth the equivalent of love or a bottle of whisky, “It probably represents something bewildering and awful and terrifying; he flutters from side to side trying in vain to escape the all-powerful beam which drags him towards it like a trout on. a fishing, line.” Female moths seldom come to light. They are fat and lazy and sit about waiting for the males to come to them. To encourage this, they use scent. Human beings cannot smell it but it is immensely powerful in the moth world and brings males from half a mile away and more. There are some smells which attract moths even more than scent. It is sad to relate that they are drunkards, and rum and treacle smeared on tree trunks will bring moths to sit and drink till they fall to the ground or into a killing bottle in a state of stupor. Female moths are as much addicted to drink as males. Teases Reformers Moore teases the earnest temperance'reformers who bid people look about the animal kingdom to find “a single one of God’s creatures which indulges in the unnatural taste for alcohol.” / Butterflies, he said, will alight rapidly on the ripe plums which fall to the ground in autumn and there quickly ferment into powerful alcohol. Peococks, (Red Admirals and Painted Ladies drink themselves silly on this so when Moore spreads rum-flavoured on trees he knows that he is using a bait which moths appreciate.