Attraction of Insects to Ornamental Lighting Used on Cultural Heritage Buildings: A Case Study in an Urban Area

Artificial light at night (ALAN) reduces insect populations by altering their movements, foraging, reproduction, and predation. Although ALAN is mainly associated with streetlights and road networks, the ornamental illumination of monuments is making an increasing (but not well-studied) contribution. We compared insect attraction to two different types of light sources: a metal halide lamp (a type currently used to illuminate monuments) and an environmentally sound prototype lamp (CromaLux) comprising a combination of green and amber LEDs. The experiment was performed within the pilot CromaLux project in Santiago de Compostela (NW Spain). The abundance and diversity of the insects captured between June and October 2021 in the areas surrounding both light sources and in an unlit area were compared. By limiting the light emitted to amber and green, the CromaLux lamps reduced the number and diversity of insects, morphospecies, and orders attracted to the light, with similar numbers captured as in the unilluminated area, while a greater diversity of insects was captured beside the metal halide lamp. This effect has been demonstrated for almost all insect orders trapped, especially in Diptera, Lepidoptera, Coleoptera, Hemiptera, and Hymenoptera. On the contrary, Psocoptera showed a similar attraction to the CromaLux and metal halide lamps, a phenomenon whose causes deserve further investigation. As expected, Diptera were the most diverse and abundant insects in all samples, but the abundance of Lepidoptera was unexpectedly low (4%), which is in line with the worldwide evidence of the progressive decline of populations of this group. The study findings provide evidence that selecting specific wavelengths for ornamental lighting reduces the attraction of insects while maintaining adequate illumination of monuments for aesthetic purposes, resulting in a lower environmental impact on nocturnal insects. This study provides reference data for developing principles of good practices leading to possible regulatory and legal solutions and the incorporation of specific measures for artificial lighting of monuments and urban structures.