A Brazilian research group recently may have found out the reason behind why certain mushrooms glow in the dark, but what does this mean for LED manufacturers?

Biochemist Cassius Stevani from Brazil’s Instituto de Quimica-Universidade de Sao Paulo team have found certain bioluminescent mushrooms glow to attract insects to spread its spores among forests, and help it colonize different forest areas, reported Daily Science Journal.

Only 71 out of 10,000 identified fungi species are bioluminescent.

Studying ‘flor de coco’, a large glowing mushroom that grows among decay debris at the bottom of young palm trees in coconut forests of Brazil, the team noticed different types of insects were attracted to the mushroom.

To test their theory, the research team made a green LED acrylic version mushroom, and coated it with glue to observe what kind of insects it attracted, according to a Daily Mail report.

The team found insects including cockroaches, ants, flies, beetles, spiders, slugs, snails, harvestmen, and centipedes were attracted to the green LED mushrooms. When insects crawl over the real ‘flor de coco’ mushroom, spores stick to the insects legs and are spread across the forest.

The fascinating part about the mushrooms its circadian rhythm enables it to identify the difference between night and day, and whether it should switch off its glowing ability during the day to conserve energy. The mushroom takes its cue from temperature differences instead of photoreceptors.

So what can LED manufacturers learn from the glowing mushroom?

For one, when designing human centric lighting, manufacturers could design systems that use a similar temperature sensor system, instead of relying on photo sensors. Studying the mushroom might also help manufactures design more effective insect traps, based on the color and wavelength of light the mushroom emits.