The Effect of Artificial Lights on Nocturnal Macrolepidoptera (Lepidoptera: Macroheterocera) Communities

Abstract We examined the light sources and illuminated environments in Sopron’s public areas and studied the impact they had on the composition of macrolepidopteran moth communities. We employed light traps with three different light sources in three differently illuminated environments (seminatural, transitional, urban) on 60 occasions during the summer period of 2012-2013 and 20 times in the seminatural area in the spring and autumn of 2014. In the first two years, we evaluated the number of individuals; in year three, we evaluated the number of species. In the first two years, the high-pressure sodium light in the seminatural site trapped the largest number of nocturnal lepidopteran specimens (2,569), while the mixed HMLI light trapped the most individuals in the transitional (1,098) and urban (822) areas. Based on the average number of individuals the first two years, we compared the locations and light sources. In terms of average number of specimens collected, significant differences emerged between two light sources and two locations. When we completed the species diversity index, we determined the compact fluorescent tube in spring and the high-pressure sodium light in the autumn showed the greatest values.