There were several errors in the online version of J. Exp. Biol. (2024) 227, jeb246587 (doi:10.1242/jeb.246587).

This Outside JEB article had some inconsistencies with the original research paper featured (doi:10.1038/s41467-024-44785-3).

The title ‘Blinded navigation: why insects get stuck circling lights at night,’ should read ‘Artificial skies: why insects get stuck circling lights at night’

In the first paragraph, ‘Samual Fabian’ should be ‘Samuel Fabian’.

In the second paragraph, the sentence ‘Fabian and colleagues found that insects flew around the light, regardless of its orientation, suggesting that the insects were drawn to the light but its orientation did not affect their flight behavior’ should read ‘Fabian and colleagues found that insects generally flew at a right angle to the light source rather than towards it. This resulted, on average, with insects flying in a circle around the light.’

In the third paragraph, the sentence ‘Attaching small markers near the wings of the insects, the team recorded their position and orientation during flight using the same equipment as before,’ should read ‘Attaching small markers near the wings of the insects, the team recorded their position and orientation during flight using four pairs of synchronised cameras arranged in a ring.’

In the third paragraph, the sentences ‘The authors concluded that the artificial light throws off an insect's ability to orient themselves because they normally use the light from the moon and stars to fly straight. The artificial light blinds the insects to their usual sources of navigation, causing them to become stuck flying in circles around lights, supporting earlier explanations for this phenomenon’ should say ‘The authors concluded that the insects use light to work out which way is up, even at night. Insects tilt their backs to where they perceive ‘up’ to be based on where light is coming from. In nature, this light comes from celestial sources in the sky and is generally upward. However, artificial light at night can be from the side or below. This causes insects to tilt their backs away from pointing up, toward the light resulting in the insects getting stuck circling the lights.’

The author apologises to readers and to Fabian et al. (doi:10.1038/s41467-024-44785-3) for these misunderstandings. The PDF and online version of the Outside JEB article have been updated to correct these issues.