Humans have had a long and interesting relationship with the moon. We have used it to make calendars, to provide light at night, and it features heavily in storytelling. Of course, more recently, we have also sent people to the moon, and are looking to do that again in the coming years.
People aren’t the only ones that are affected by the moon, however. In fact, in one way or another, just about every living thing on Earth is impacted by it in some way. The moon causes the tides to ebb and flow, which has a major impact on the ocean currents and weather in general.
Some living things are even more directly impacted by the phases of the moon, and we’re not just talking about mythical animals like werewolves.
Mayflies that live in Africa are one great example of this. These insects have been shown to come out of their larval stage two days after a full moon. The larval stage lasts 4-5 months. Coming out of the larval stage all together is especially important because once they emerge as sexually mature adults, these mayflies only live about one or two hours. Having them all emerge at the same time allows them to quickly attract a mate and lay their eggs before their demise.
Another example of this is with barn owls. According to a 2019 study, these large birds are either red or white in color. They hunt almost exclusively at night, and the main source of food is the field vole. The study found that in the moonlight, the red barn owl is more easily seen by the field vole, allowing it to escape more often.
The moonlight reflects off the white barn owl’s feathers, which when the vole sees this causes them to freeze in place for a time, giving the owl a chance to catch it. This means that white barn owls are more successful at hunting, giving them a greater chance at survival.
One last example of this is the African dung beetle. A 2003 study found that when a dung beetle collects elephant dung and rolls it into a ball to take away for use in feeding and raising their young, they try to move away from the main pile in a straight line. During the day, they use the polarisation pattern of the sun, which is a light not visible to humans, to move away in a straight line.
At night, this beetle uses the same polarisation pattern of light that is reflected off the moon. The study found that if the pattern was shifted using camera lens filters, the beetle would follow the new light. On nights when there was no moonlight, the beetles would move away from the dung pile in a more meandering way, which is much less efficient, putting them at greater risk.
These are just a few examples of how animals have evolved to use the moon in many different ways to help improve their ability to survive. It is likely that we have only scratched the surface of how the moon impacts the lives of plants and animals throughout the world.
The moon’s impact on us is fascinating.
If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.
