Glow-worms are more attractive in the dark

A recent study in Belgium published on MDPI found that female glow-worms in areas with lots of artificial light took up to 15 times longer to find a mate than those living in unlit areas. 

Glow-worms can’t swipe right, in fact the females are wingless and won’t travel far in the pursuit of love. With Artificial light at night (ALAN) currently increasing at a rate of 6% worldwide we need to find solutions that balance public safety with protecting wildlife.

Prof Darren Evans, of Newcastle University, said: “Light pollution is one of the few causes of biodiversity loss that has easy [and immediate] solutions.”

LEDs are more energy efficient than traditional sodium lamps, but are often brighter and therefore create more light pollution. But, LEDs are dimmable and with the application of simple tech like motion sensors, or filters to screen out blue light can easily be made less harmful to wildlife. 

We live in exciting times with rapidly evolving technology, but as Spider-man knows “with great power comes great responsibility”. At TerraVerde we believe that by placing sustainability at the core of new innovation, we can have progress and protect the natural world.