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.

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 ...

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 ...

A multiple-exposure photograph of insects circling a light at night. Samuel Fabian, CC BY-ND It’s an observation as old as humans gathering around campfires: Light at night can draw an erratically ...

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 ...

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 ...

Researchers from the University of Konstanz have studied how insect brains take in complex light stimuli and process them in ...

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 ...

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 ...