All images by the ICZ

 

 

plate 16

 

blood bee

Moon dust (ash belonging to 103 species of insects collected from a lamp cover)


Less than 4% of Singapore exists in total darkness after 10pm. Insects are attracted to artificial light sources, though no one knows exactly why. The insects are usually killed by exhaustion or through contact with the heat from lamps. After being incinerated, their bodies become a heap of ash, collected in the covers of street lamps. The ash, also referred to as 'moon dust', is used by scientists to study the ecological impact of light pollution on insects.

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Copyright 2013, Institute of Critical Zoologists