Skip to content Skip to footer

Could LED street lights be causing major issues for caterpillars?

Electrical Review Logo

LED streetlights are very energy efficient. But the light they emit is even more damaging to insects than the sodium bulbs they replace. Apparently there were 41% fewer moth caterpillars to be found under a sodium bulb than in a previously unlit area. But under an LED light the reduction becomes 52%.

In grassy margins, sodium lights apparently had little impact upon caterpillars. Whereas LED ones are halving the caterpillar numbers.

Moths are important pollinators. And so the reduction in caterpillar numbers is likely to have a knock-on effect upon the many species that feed on them, including songbirds and hedgehogs.

Top Stories

Stay In The Know

Get the Electrical Review Newsletter direct to your inbox, and don't miss a thing.