Encore - Bug Trails

Take a look back at some of the EPODs our viewers found particularly eye-catching. Today, and every Saturday, EPOD invites you to rediscover favorites from the past. Saturday posts feature an EPOD that was chosen by viewers like you in our monthly Viewers’ Choice polls. Join us as we look back at these intriguing and captivating images.
_________________________________________________

Photographer: Bill Webb
Summary Authors: Bill Webb; Jim Foster

The spirals, stitches and coils seen above are actually insects flying in front of a large floodlight. The "barbs" on the flight paths are the individual wingbeats captured during the two-second exposure. Some bugs and moths seem to be attracted to bright lights because they often rely on the brightest nightlight of all, the Moon, for orientation. According to recent theory, some animals and many night flying insects use transverse orientation to attempt to keep a steady angle in relation to a light source. As they fly, they move closer each time they change position. These hapless critters thus fritter away the hours until dispersed by dawn or freed from this incandescent grip by a flip of a switch. In Shakespeare’s play The Merchant of Venice, the phrase “moths to a flame” referred to someone who was likely to be tempted by something that would lead to their downfall. Photo taken near Hurst, Texas on the night of September 19, 2009.