Scorpion Like terrifying glow-in-the-dark toys, these animals luminesce at night, thanks to a cuticle that absorbs ultraviolet light reflected from the moon and emits a greenish-blue glow. Their luminescence may be part of a warning system that lets them know when the moonlight is so bright they risk being seen by other predators. It would be good to stay out of the way of those predators, since many of them are other scorpions: a scorpion's diet is 40 per cent scorpion. The glow may also attract another of the scorpion's favourite snacks, the moth.



(Image: Fabio Pupin/FLPA)

Honey badger If the darkness is full of scary creatures, one solution would be to become the scariest creature in the darkness. The honey badger's aggression is legendary: it has been known to bite the heads off snakes and munch on scorpions. For this animal, everything is on the menu: they've been known to dine on beetles, lizards, birds, leguans, crocodiles and 3-metre-long pythons, not to mention the highly venomous black mamba snake. It's often said to have the habit of lunging for the genitals, but that may be a reflection of its fearsome reputation rather than an actual fact.



(Image: Laurent Geslin/naturepl.com) Advertisement

Octodon Some of the earliest nocturnal animals were small mammals known as proto-rodents. By occupying the darkness – the ability to generate their own heat meant they did not need to bask in the sun – it is thought that mammals could compete more successfully with diurnal dinosaurs. Today, this early legacy of nocturnal behaviour endures in night-dwelling rodents like rats, hamsters and the extravagantly named octodon, which sounds like it should be a dinosaur but is actually a nondescript mouse-like creature.



(Image: Rex Features)

Gila monster One major advantage to being nocturnal is that in tropical and arid regions, it allows animals to prevent overheating and water loss. During the day, the Gila monster – a huge venomous lizard – stays in its burrow to avoid the extreme heat of the Mexican and the US deserts where it lives. Hunting at night, it flicks its forked tongue to pick up scents in the air and other information about its surroundings.



(Image: Joel Sartore/Getty)

Dung beetle How do African dung beetles know where to roll their dung balls on dark nights? The nocturnal bugs appear to have evolved to use celestial cues. Researchers in Sweden and South Africa found that the beetles orient themselves by the patterns of the Milky Way in the sky, allowing them to transport their dung balls in straight paths and avoid "the intense competition at the dung pile". They're far from the only insects to use celestial cues to orient themselves. The compound eyes of most nocturnal insects are much more sensitive to light than those of their day-waking relations.



(Image: Mark Moffett/Minden Pictures)