Why do moths and other flying insects fly towards the light?

Question

Whenever I turn my porch light on at night a host of insects flock to it. Why is that?

In: Biology

Answer 1

There was actually a recent [paper](https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-024-44785-3) about this (not ELI5). They’re essentially wired to assume the brightest light is up, since until we came around it was either the sun or moon. If they pass by a light source they turn to keep it above them, which can cause them to fly in tight loops around a porch light.