Last time I was at the dentist, sometime between counting the ceiling tiles and eyeing the instruments that would soon be in my mouth, I looked up at all of the black spots in the fluorescent lights. This instance, and many more, leads me to wonder why are bugs attracted to light?
After researching the topic, I found that all organisms have phototaxis, which is their movement to or away from light. Most bugs you find in light fixtures etc, are positively phototactic. Other creatures such as cockroaches are actually opposite and have a negative phototactic. People also have these similar traits (some like being alone in the dark while others like being in the “limelight”). There are many different reasons bugs are attracted to light, some like it for the actual brightness and some like it for the heat. Bees orient themselves with the sun, nocturnal insects use the moon to navigate, and bugs such as fireflies are lucky because they have a traveling lightbulb. I am so relieved to finally understand why so many insects are attracted to lights. It still BUGS me though, when they fly inside when I leave the door open on a nice summer night. To learn more in depth details about different species attracted to the light visit http://sciencebits.wordpress.com/2008/09/19/why-are-bugs-attracted-to-light/
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