Why do moths fly into flames? The real reason is here

Moths belong to the order Lepidoptera. Most are active at night and like to gather in bright places. There is a folk saying that "a moth darting into a flame burns itself." On clear summer nights, under streetlights, you can always see many moths circling the light nonstop, bumping their bodies against lampshades and utility poles, tearing their wings without a care. Let's take a look below at why moths fly into flames!

Why do moths fly into flames?

When flying and active at night, moths rely on moonlight to determine direction, always keeping the moonlight projecting into their eyes from one direction. After escaping a predator's chase or turning to go around an obstacle, as long as they turn one more corner, the moonlight will still come from the original direction, and they find their direction again. This is a kind of "celestial navigation." When moths see lamplight, they mistakenly think it is "moonlight," and so they also use this fake "moonlight" to tell direction. The moon is very far from Earth, so as long as a moth keeps a fixed angle to the moon, it can fly in a certain direction. But a lamp is very close to the moth, and the moth by instinct still keeps a fixed angle to the light source, so it can only circle around the light until it finally exhausts itself and dies.

Why do moths like light?

From a bystander's view, moths seem obviously attracted to light, but in fact it is more accurate to say that "because the moth is dizzy and cannot figure out direction," it circles around a bright object. Moths use light for compass navigation and have evolved to use a fixed part of the eye to receive light. As long as the light source is very distant, like the sun or moon, the angles of light received by the eye will be almost consistently parallel. At this time, a moth only needs to travel roughly in a straight line, and the visual image can remain unchanged. But when the light source is very close, if it still travels in a straight line, the angle of light it receives changes at every moment of movement. So in order to adapt to this change, the moth ends up, from a bystander's view, appearing to spiral toward the light source.

The difference between moths and butterflies

1. Butterflies usually fly during the day, while moths prefer to move at night.

2. A butterfly's antennae are club-shaped, while a moth's antennae are straight and mostly feathery.

3. Butterflies have slender bodies, while moths have plump, hairy bodies.

4. When resting, a butterfly folds its wings together and holds them straight up on its back, while a moth spreads its wings flat.

5. Butterflies vary in color and have patterns on their wings. Moths have fewer colors and more fuzz on their bodies, looking gray and dull.