Moth

• Light and sound shows in parks can enthral crowds with their colour, music and storytelling.
• But unless they are well-located, the shows can also harm wildlife.
• Research shows artificial light, sound and the presence of lots of people at night can harm wildlife.

A history of community opposition

• While they often take place along existing walking trails, they attract huge crowds at a time when animals usually have the place to themselves.
• Most of Australia’s mammals and frogs and many bird and reptile species are nocturnal, or active at night.
• Light shows proposed for other wildlife conservation areas have also faced community opposition.

Light, sounds, action!

• For example, it can change their hormone levels, and the numbers and health of their offspring.
• Light also interferes with the ability of many species to navigate.
• It masks the natural soundscape, making it harder for animals to find mates or hear the calls of their young.
• It can also mask smells vital for an animal’s survival, such as that of food and predators.

Long-term harm

• This cuts in half the time animals have to go about their life-sustaining activities and exposes them to greater risks when they do go out.
• Light and sound shows are usually temporary – but can have major long-term impacts.
• For example, males of the genus Antechinus (small marsupials) live long enough for just one short breeding season.

Find a better location

• Organisers may have minimised impacts where they can, but evidence suggests the impact on wildlife will still be extensive.
• Finding genuinely suitable locations should be done with care – and should avoid wildlife conservation areas altogether.

• Euan Ritchie receives funding from the Australian Research Council and the Department of Energy, Environment, and Climate Action.
• Therésa Jones receives funding from the Australian Research Council and is affiliated with NERAL (Network for Ecological Research on Artificial Light).

• Bats count on their secret weapon, echolocation, to find and catch their flying prey, and in response, nocturnal insects have evolved interesting defences.
• Many silk moths, for instance, rely on a kind of sound-absorbing stealth cloak that makes them “disappear” from bat sonar.
• However, scientists have long been puzzled about the many earless moths that cannot detect their predators and are too small for decoys.
• We recently discovered that even earless moths, such as ermine moths (Yponomeuta), use acoustic signals as a defence against bat attacks.

Protective wing beats

When we studied the ermine moth’s wing under a microscope, it became clear that one part of the wing stands out from the rest. While most of it is covered by small hairs and scales, one patch of wing is clear and located adjacent to a corrugated structure of ridges and valleys. In our new study, we found this structure produces sound perfectly tuned to confuse bats.

• As the drum skin is struck by a drumstick, the skin vibrates at its natural frequencies and transmits these vibrations into the surrounding air as sound.
• In ermine moths, the clear patch in the hind wing serves as the drum skin, while the corrugated structure of valleys and ridges act as drumsticks.
• During flight, the moth’s wing makes the ridges snap one after the other in a sequence.
• To our team of biologists and engineers, these wing structures are fascinating because they rely on a mechanism that we teach our engineering students to avoid.

Inspired by nature

• One example is engineers designing morphing structures for future aircraft wings that autonomously adapt their shape to perform better when the environment changes.
• The aeroelastic tymbal of ermine moths embodies this concept and demonstrates how nature can be an inspiration for new technology.

• BB/N009991/1) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant no.
• Alberto Pirrera has received funding for this research from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (grant no.
• 530777/472285) and the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council through the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Advanced Composites for Innovation and Science (grant no.

• After centuries of landscape change, particularly deforestation caused by humans, it is easy to forget how well trees can thrive there.
• Since at least 3,000 years ago, trees and shrubs have been harvested for building materials, firewood and charcoal.
• Woody plants, especially willows, are particularly appetising for these animals in the uplands where nutritious food can be harder to find.

A perilous decline

• The iconic Scots pine is a feature of remnant treelines, particularly in the Cairngorms.
• These refuges also include birch, rowan and juniper, as well as arctic-alpine willows which are rare and endangered or vulnerable to extinction.

Reaching new heights

• Some observations were at least 200m above previous known altitudes.
• Our discoveries are attributed primarily to increased biological recording, which is valuable for expanding knowledge of the environmental tolerances of plants.

Benefits for a whole ecosystem

• Once a large enough seed source exists, the trees will also emerge on their own via natural regeneration.
• Montane willow scrub now flourishes on the Ben Lawers range in the southern Highlands, while Caledonian pinewoods are reappearing on higher ground in the Cairngorms.
• These benefits are called “nature-based solutions” because they are considered vitally important for reducing threats from escalating climate change, including warming temperatures, extreme weather and soil erosion.

Nature recovery at scale

• Land managers, policymakers and funding bodies must move forward from focusing on small areas of mountain woodland held behind fences.
• Those estates already taking such an approach are showing significant capacity for regeneration and nature recovery.
• Improving the health of all these habitats will allow our environment to nurture a high diversity of life and many associated benefits to people amidst the nature and climate emergency.

• Did you know venom – a toxic substance injected by one animal into another – has evolved around 100 times?
• In our laboratory at the University of Queensland, my colleagues and I study all kinds of venomous animals.
• One reason we do this is to find new molecules that can be used in medicines, or as bio-friendly insecticides.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

• Interestingly, it’s always the larval forms (caterpillars) that are armed with venom, and not the adults.
• However, the venom of some of these caterpillar groups, including asp caterpillars, has never been examined with modern methods.

Evolution by horizontal gene transfer

• Asp caterpillars aren’t found in Australia, so I had to travel to Florida to collect them from oak and elm trees.
• These hopping events are called horizontal gene transfer to distinguish them from the vertical transfer of genes from parents to offspring.
• We know of only a few examples of the horizontal gene transfer of venom toxins.

Harnessing nature’s resources

• Beyond this, projects like this can also help us discover new ways in which venom toxins may benefit humans and the environment.
• Our ability to develop such new technologies depends on discovering and understanding the molecular resources that exist in nature.