Data from: Reduced flight-to-light behaviour of moth populations exposed to long-term urban light pollution

The globally increasing light pollution is a well-recognized threat to
ecosystems, with negative effects on human, animal and plant wellbeing.
The most well-known and widely documented consequence of light pollution
is the generally fatal attraction of nocturnal insects to artificial light
sources. However, the evolutionary consequences are unknown. Here we
report that moth populations from urban areas with high, globally relevant
levels of light pollution over several decades show a significantly
reduced flight-to-light behaviour compared with populations of the same
species from pristine dark-sky habitats. Using a common garden setting, we
reared moths from 10 different populations from early-instar larvae and
experimentally compared their flight-to-light behaviour under standardized
conditions. Moths from urban populations had a significant reduction in
the flight-to-light behaviour compared with pristine populations. The
reduced attraction to light sources of ‘city moths' may directly
increase these individuals' survival and reproduction. We anticipate
that it comes with a reduced mobility, which negatively affects foraging
as well as colonization ability. As nocturnal insects are of eminent
significance as pollinators and the primary food source of many
vertebrates, an evolutionary change of the flight-to-light behaviour
thereby potentially cascades across species interaction networks.