Data from: Experimental study on the impact of continuous and dynamic artificial light at night on moths originating from different skyglow conditions

Biodiversity is negatively affected by light pollution, caused by
artificial light at night (ALAN). Light-emitting diodes facilitate new
lighting technologies to mediate the negative effects of ALAN, such as
dynamic ALAN where light intensity can be adjusted to traffic density.
Organisms living in highly light-polluted areas may show adaptations to
mitigate the negative effects of ALAN. In a split-brood rearing
experiment, larvae of two moth species (Ochropleura plecta and Agrotis
exclamationis) originating from low-medium and high-medium skyglow
populations were grown under either continuous ALAN, dynamic ALAN or
control-dark conditions. We tested for ALAN effects on larval mortality,
feeding behaviour, development and body mass, and whether effects depended
on skyglow levels in the population of origin. Contrary to previous
studies, we found either no or positive effects of ALAN on larval
development, with similar or stronger effects of dynamic ALAN compared to
continuous ALAN. For A. exclamationis, we showed evidence for faster
development, increased growth rate and higher body mass under ALAN. This
could reduce larval exposure to parasites and increase fecundity. We found
no evidence for evolutionary responses in low-medium or high-medium
skyglow larvae. Our results show that ALAN does not affect larval
development the same way in all species.