Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington.
Biol Lett. 2021 Sep;17(9):20210320. doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2021.0320. Epub 2021 Sep 15.
Nocturnal insects like moths are essential for pollination, providing resilience to the diurnal pollination networks. Moths use both vision and mechanosensation to locate the nectary opening in the flowers with their proboscis. However, increased light levels due to artificial light at night (ALAN) pose a serious threat to nocturnal insects. Here, we examined how light levels influence the efficacy by which the crepuscular hawkmoth locates the nectary. We used three-dimensional-printed artificial flowers fitted with motion sensors in the nectary and machine vision to track the motion of hovering moths under two light levels: 0.1 lux (moonlight) and 50 lux (dawn/dusk). We found that moths in higher light conditions took significantly longer to find the nectary, even with repeated visits to the same flower. In addition to taking longer, moths in higher light conditions hovered further from the flower during feeding. Increased light levels adversely affect learning and motor control in these animals.
夜间昆虫，如飞蛾，对传粉至关重要，为昼间传粉网络提供了弹性。飞蛾利用视觉和机械感觉来用它们的喙定位花朵的蜜腺开口。然而，由于夜间人工光（ALAN）的增加，对夜间昆虫构成了严重威胁。在这里，我们研究了光照水平如何影响黄昏 Hawk 飞蛾定位蜜腺的效果。我们使用三维打印的人工花朵，在蜜腺中安装运动传感器和机器视觉，在两种光照水平下（0.1 勒克斯（月光）和 50 勒克斯（黎明/黄昏））跟踪悬停飞蛾的运动。我们发现，在更高光照条件下的飞蛾找到蜜腺的时间明显更长，即使是在重复访问同一朵花的情况下。除了花费更长时间外，在更高光照条件下的飞蛾在进食时悬停在离花朵更远的地方。更高的光照水平会对这些动物的学习和运动控制产生不利影响。
