2024/03/01 by Evert Van de Schoot, Thomas Merckx, Dieter Ebert +3 · 1 voice · 2 citations
Agricultural and Biological Sciences · Environmental Science · #Animal Behavior and Reproduction #Plant and animal studies #Species Distribution and Climate Change
paper · pdf · doi:10.1098/rsbl.2023.0486
openalex publication_date 2024/03/01 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/30
Moths and other insects are attracted by artificial light sources. This flight-to-light behaviour disrupts their general activity focused on finding resources, such as mating partners, and increases predation risk. It thus has substantial fitness costs. In illuminated urban areas, spindle ermine moths Yponomeuta cagnagella were reported to have evolved a reduced flight-to-light response. Yet, the specific mechanism remained unknown, and was hypothesized to involve either changes in visual perception or general flight ability or overall mobility traits. Here, we test whether spindle ermine moths from urban and rural populations—with known differences in flight-to-light responses—differ in flight-related morphological traits. Urban individuals were found to have on average smaller wings than rural moths, which in turn correlated with a lower probability of being attracted to an artificial light source. Our finding supports the reduced mobility hypothesis, which states that reduced mobility in urban areas is associated with specific morphological changes in the flight apparatus.