Light Attraction in Carabid Beetles
- Artificial light at night (ALAN) is altering the behaviour of nocturnal animals in a manifold of ways. Nocturnal invertebrates are particularly affected, due to their fatal attraction to ALAN. This selective pressure has the potential to reduce the strength of the flight-to-light response in insects, as shown recently in a moth species. Here we investigated light attraction of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae).We compared among animals (three genera) from a highly light polluted (HLP) grassland in the centre of Berlin and animals collected at a low-polluted area in a Dark Sky Reserve (DSR), captured using odour bait. In an arena setting tested at night time, HLP beetles (n = 75 across all genera) showed a reduced attraction towards ALAN. Tested during daytime, HLP beetles were less active in an open field test (measured as latency to start moving), compared to DSR (n = 143). However, we did not observe a reduced attraction towards ALAN within the species most common at both sides, Calathus fuscipes (HLP = 37, DSR = 118Artificial light at night (ALAN) is altering the behaviour of nocturnal animals in a manifold of ways. Nocturnal invertebrates are particularly affected, due to their fatal attraction to ALAN. This selective pressure has the potential to reduce the strength of the flight-to-light response in insects, as shown recently in a moth species. Here we investigated light attraction of ground beetles (Coleoptera: Carabidae).We compared among animals (three genera) from a highly light polluted (HLP) grassland in the centre of Berlin and animals collected at a low-polluted area in a Dark Sky Reserve (DSR), captured using odour bait. In an arena setting tested at night time, HLP beetles (n = 75 across all genera) showed a reduced attraction towards ALAN. Tested during daytime, HLP beetles were less active in an open field test (measured as latency to start moving), compared to DSR (n = 143). However, we did not observe a reduced attraction towards ALAN within the species most common at both sides, Calathus fuscipes (HLP = 37, DSR = 118 individuals) indicating that not all species may be equally affected by ALAN. Reduced attraction to ALAN in urban beetles may either be a result of phenotypic selection in each generation removing HLP individuals that are attracted to light, or an indication for ongoing evolutionary differentiation among city and rural populations in their light response. Reduced attraction to light sources may directly enhance survival and reproductive success of urban individuals. However, decrease in mobility may negatively influence dispersal, reproduction and foraging success, highlighting the selective pressure that light pollution may have on fitness, by shaping and modifying the behaviour of insects.…
Author details: | Vera KaunathORCiD, Jana EccardORCiDGND |
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DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3389/fevo.2022.751288 |
ISSN: | 2296-701X |
Title of parent work (English): | Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |
Subtitle (English): | Comparison Among Animals From the Inner City and a Dark Sky Reserve |
Publisher: | Frontiers Media |
Place of publishing: | Lausanne, Schweiz |
Publication type: | Article |
Language: | English |
Date of first publication: | 2022/02/16 |
Publication year: | 2022 |
Release date: | 2022/08/22 |
Tag: | Carabidae beetles; Illuminance; artificial light at night (ALAN); environmental change; light pollution; solar powered light-emitting diode |
Volume: | 10 |
Article number: | 751288 |
Number of pages: | 10 |
Remarks: | VK and JE designed the experimental set up and research question. VK performed the animal trapping, experiments and hence, data collection, and organizing of the database. Both authors performed the statistical analyses and contributed to discussion, manuscript revision, read, and approved the submitted version. |
Funding institution: | Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) |
Funding institution: | Ministry for Education and Science BMBF (Bridging in; Biodiversity Science (BIBS) |
Funding number: | 491466077 |
Funding number: | 01LC1501B |
Organizational units: | Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Fakultät / Institut für Biochemie und Biologie |
DDC classification: | 5 Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / 57 Biowissenschaften; Biologie / 570 Biowissenschaften; Biologie |
Peer review: | Referiert |
Grantor: | Publikationsfonds der Universität Potsdam |
Publishing method: | Open Access / Gold Open-Access |
License (German): | CC-BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
External remark: | Zweitveröffentlichung in der Schriftenreihe Zweitveröffentlichungen der Universität Potsdam : Mathematisch-Naturwissenschaftliche Reihe ; 1259 |