WASHINGTON -- Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that's not exactly what's going on, a new study ...

Like a moth to flame, many scientists and poets have long assumed that flying insects were simply, inexorably drawn to bright lights. But that's not exactly what's going on, a new study suggests.

You’ve probably seen or heard at least once in your lifetime about fireflies – the famous light-emitting insects! They form the Lampyridae family and are sometimes called glowworms or lightning bugs.

The observation that bugs are attracted to light goes back centuries — probably even millennia. Shakespeare referenced the strange phenomenon in 1596 when, in "The Merchant of Venice," he wrote, "Thus ...