Explore the great outdoors with Missouri’s nocturnal insects this week. Why do insects that hit your windshield seem to hit exactly where you are looking? Who are these insects and why are they flying around? The answer to the first question is pure coincidence. The answers to the other questions are a little more complicated.
Most insects will hit your windshield at night, when many are active under cover of darkness. They fly around in search of food or companions or both. Moths, lightning bugs, and mosquitoes are among the insects that make your windshield your final landing spot.
Female moths give off an odor that attracts the males. The males cannot resist this scent, which hangs in the air or is carried by the wind. If they follow the perfumed path to the females, they can hit your windshield in the process. Moths also navigate the stars, and artificial light can attract them. They can also be attracted to headlights, which can lead to messy windshields.
The lightning beetle is nocturnal and crepuscular (active at dawn and dusk). When the winged adults fly, the bioluminescent tips of their abdomen blink up and down.
Mosquitoes use the night to look for food, preferably a warm body rather than a warm car. Even so, they often come across windshields.
When an insect splashes on your windshield, it just follows its instincts. The collisions are indications of the insect’s busy nightlife, which we normally don’t notice.
Learn more about Missouri’s nocturnal insects at MissouriConservation.org.
:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/tronc/LWUS2FW5KZA4TGNESPUBDJWULE.jpg "5 Central Florida eating places shut down; flying bugs, hand-washing amongst points – Orlando Sentinel")
