To date, however, knowledge on the effectiveness of these methods has remained very limited. With evidence for its negative impact accumulating, potential remedies, such as limiting the duration of light exposure, have emerged. Interest in the effects of artificial light at night on animal behaviour has increased in recent years. Thus, limiting the duration of artificial light can mitigate the adverse effects of light pollution on sexual signalling, highlighting the importance of such mitigation measures. These findings suggest that glow-worms can react rapidly to anthropogenic changes in nocturnal light levels, and that prolonged periods of artificial light trigger females to stop sexual signalling. Furthermore, small females were more likely to cease their glow, and responded faster to the light, than larger females. The results show that females were more likely to cease glowing when the exposure to light was longer.

The study included three treatments: no artificial light (control), 15 min of artificial light, and 45 min of artificial light. Accordingly, we investigated whether the duration of artificial light affects sexual signalling in female glow-worms, Lampyris noctiluca, which are flightless and attract flying males to mate by emitting glow that is interfered by light pollution. Limiting the use of artificial light may mitigate these negative effects. This interference can change the behaviour of the affected organisms, and hence compromise the viability of their populations. Artificial light at night is increasing globally, interfering with both sensory ecology and temporal rhythms of organisms, from zooplankton to mammals.

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