ABSTRACT Mutualistic interactions between night-blooming flowers and their nocturnal pollinators present unique challenges for both partners. Although most flowering plants and pollinators are diurnal, nocturnal pollination is not uncommon. In dim light conditions, flowers must remain attractive to pollinators, whereas pollinators must detect, discriminate and remember floral cues amid a noisy and variable sensory landscape. Both moths and bats are particularly well known for their roles as nocturnal pollinators. Yet, our understanding of the sensory ecology of these and other lesser-studied nocturnal pollinators remains limited. Little is known about the dependence of their activity and behaviour on daily fluctuations in natural night-time light levels, the circa-monthly lunar cycle, or the sensory adaptations that facilitate pollination. These knowledge gaps are concerning given the global spread of artificial light at night (ALAN), which envelops much of the Earth's surface. Current research on the responses of nocturnal pollinators to ALAN is fragmented, revealing effects that vary by both species and type of lighting. However, the knock-on effects of these responses remain poorly understood. In this Review, I discuss current knowledge and identify critical gaps across four themes, namely: (1) nocturnal pollinator activity in relation to natural ambient light levels and lunar phases; (2) the effects of ALAN on the visual ecology of nocturnal pollinators; (3) the consequences of ALAN for plant-pollinator interactions; and (4) unresolved questions concerning the sensory ecology of nocturnal pollinators and how disruptions may scale to affect broader plant-pollinator dynamics under increasingly illuminated night skies.
Hema Somanathan (2026) studied this question.