Illustration by Aaron Meshon

Bruce Robertson, an ecologist at Michigan State University, studies booby traps. More specifically, he investigates man-made environmental changes that dupe wildlife into self-destructive behavior. Recently he discovered that solar panels can serve as accidental flypaper because they polarize reflected light much the way water does. To mayflies, dragonflies, and other aquatic insects, polarized light is the homing beacon that tells them where to feed, mate, and lay eggs. The problem is, a solar panel's polarizing effect is stronger than water's—think Vegas Strip versus the neighborhood streetlamp. Robertson found that mayflies pass up real ponds to lay their eggs on the artificial surfaces, where they fry. Fortunately, he also found that if you overlay the dark surface with a thin white grid, the insects pass over the panels: the phantom water patches look too small.