Bright nights, disrupted lives: a bibliometric study on the effects of artificial light at night in Orthoptera

The rapid expansion of Artificial Light at Night (ALAN), driven by anthropogenic activities, has significantly altered natural environments, affecting several taxa. ALAN is widely recognized as a significant ecological stressor, being detrimental to the behavior, physiology and reproductive fitness of insects, including Orthoptera. Based on the studies retrieved from Scopus and Web of Science, the review attempted to answer the following questions (i) Are the regions with the highest light pollution involved in studying the impact of light pollution on Orthoptera? (ii) What are the traits affected by ALAN-induced light pollution in Orthoptera? The review found that studies were largely restricted to developed nations. Countries with the highest night-time illumination have not yet studied the impact of ALAN on Orthoptera. The effect of light has been studied in only 12 species of Orthoptera, compared to the vast diversity of >29,500 species. This review highlights the physiological traits affected by ALAN such as body size, developmental time, survival rate, reproductive investment, circadian rhythm, and immune response. Behaviors affected by ALAN, such as visual orientation, locomotion, calling behavior, and mate searching, are also highlighted. It emphasizes the critical need for targeted research on their calling behavior, the efficacy of acoustic signals, mate attraction, and reproductive success for understanding the behavioural shifts as a consequence of ALAN. Given that most Orthopteran species rely on acoustic communication for mate attraction and reproductive success, it is imperative to study the impacts of ALAN on their acoustic behavior.