Attraction of Moths to Light
Dave Chesmore
E.D.Chesmore at e-eng.hull.ac.uk
Fri Jul 18 04:33:56 EDT 1997
Liz Day commented:
"Meaning then that those species of moth would make awfully
interesting controls for a study on light attraction.
Oh well! In a parallel universe."
I don't know of any current work on moths but there is considerable
interest in so-called target technology for pest management. Targets
are basically devices to attract insects to a point where pesticides or
IGRs can be applied, reducing pesticide use. I know of research
carried out on midges which suggests that different species are
attracted differently BUT the particular work has substantial flaws
such as averaging light levels over distance (intensity decreases as
1/square of distance) or employing lux as a unit (lux is a human eye
response measurement and has a response of 0 in UV). 2 of the
papers I have are contradictory - one says intensity is the primary
factor and not colour, the other says colour and not intensity! Also
one paper gives the output of a 100W tungsten lamp as over 400 lux
and the other 22 lux for the same power. One paper also tried to
directly compare normal incandescent lamps with fluorescent lamps
which produce line spectra and have a totally different shape
Much needs to be done and correctly. Camera-based tracking
systems should be a useful tool. Does anyone know whether these
have been used?
Dr David Chesmore, FRES
Environmental Electronics Research Group
Dept. of Electronic Engineering
University of Hull, Hull, HU6 7RX
Tel: +482 465062; Fax: +482 466664
Email: E.D.Chesmore at E-Eng.Hull.AC.UK
Web page: http://www.hull.ac.uk/php/eepmds/home.htm
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