Study says LED streetlights decimating moth numbers in England

As per a recent study, eco-friendly LED streetlights produce even worse light pollution for insects than traditional sodium bulbs.

The abundance of moth caterpillars in hedgerows by rural roads in England was 52 per cent lower under LED lights and 41 per cent lower under sodium lights when compared with nearby unlit areas.

Also, in grass margins, moth caterpillar numbers near LEDs were a third lower than in unlit areas, whereas sodium lights had little effect on abundance.

The white LED lights are more energy-efficient but produce more blue light, say scientists.

The study happens to be the first to examine the impact of LEDs in a real-world setting and the first to show the direct impact of light pollution on caterpillars.

The caterpillars are less mobile than adult moths, and therefore show more precisely the local losses caused by light pollution.

Douglas Boyes, of the UK Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, who led the new research was quoted by The Guardian as saying, "It’s a really striking result".

“We found numbers that you’re not really used to ecology. You usually find maybe 5-10% changes here and there, but we found up to 50% drops in the number of caterpillars in the areas lit by streetlights.

“LEDs are the baddies in our story, if you like, because they’re worse in terms of their effect at the moment, but they also have the potential to be much better than sodium lighting.”