Question
Why candle moth sacrifices her life by burning her wings with flame.
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The phenomenon where moths, often called "candle moths," are drawn to flames and sometimes burn their wings can be explained by their instinctual behaviors and evolutionary traits.

Key Reasons for the Behavior:

1. Phototaxis

• Positive Phototaxis: Moths exhibit a natural attraction to light, known as positive phototaxis. This behavior helps them navigate using celestial light sources like the moon and stars.
• Navigational Aid: By maintaining a constant angle to a distant light source, moths can fly in a straight line. However, when the light source is a nearby flame, this strategy results in a spiral flight pattern that brings them closer to the light.

2. Disorientation by Artificial Light

• Close Light Source: Unlike the moon, which is a fixed and distant light source, artificial lights like candles are close and cause moths to spiral inward toward the flame.
• Misguided Navigation: This disorientation leads moths to fly too close to the light, causing them to burn their wings.

3. Infrared Radiation and Heat Attraction

• Heat Mimicry: Flames emit infrared radiation, which some studies suggest may attract moths. This radiation can mimic the thermal cues that moths use to find warm resting spots.
• Instinctive Attraction: The attraction to heat can lead moths to fly into flames inadvertently.

4. Evolutionary Misalignment

• Historical Context: Moths evolved in environments without artificial lights. Their attraction to natural light sources was once advantageous for navigation and survival.
• Modern Environment: In modern environments filled with artificial lights, this evolutionary trait becomes maladaptive, leading to fatal encounters with flames.

Summary

Moths are not consciously sacrificing themselves but are driven by their evolutionary instincts and behaviors. Their natural phototactic responses, developed long before the advent of artificial light sources, cause them to navigate towards and ultimately into dangerous light sources like flames.

Sources:

• Scientific American
• National Geographic
• Journal of Experimental Biology