It is a common practice to leave the lights on at night in an attempt to deter bugs, particularly during the summer months when bugs are more active. This common behavior is born from the observation that insects can seem to flock to light sources or shun them. More information about what artificial lighting does and how it affects insect behavior can help homeowners make choices regarding nighttime lighting practices. About 60% of households admitted to occasionally leaving lights on to deter pests. However, the effectiveness of this strategy varies significantly depending on the type of insect and lighting involved.
So, it is important to look at the actual science underlying this multi-faceted practice. This will also help you to keep your home pest free in Plano and ensure you follow the right approach.
How Light Impacts Bugs?
Light impacts bugs in various ways. These include:
- Phototaxis in Insects
Phototaxis, a movement response to light stimuli, is seen in many insects. Positive phototaxis, seen in moths, flies, and mosquitoes, draws insects toward light sources. 60-70% of flying nocturnal insects exhibit positive phototaxis.
- Different Light Wavelengths
Not all lighting affects insects equally. Insects are drawn to ultraviolet and blue light wavelengths, specifically. Yellow, orange, and red lights usually attract fewer insects as these wavelengths are less visible to most insect species.
- Insect Navigation Confusion
Researchers think insects use natural light sources such as the moon to help them navigate. This navigation system is often confused by artificial lights, causing insects to minuet around sources of light rather than proceeding along their natural course. This behavior is responsible for why moths circle porch lights instead of flying past them.
Will it make a difference to turn the light off?
Turning off lights may cut down on insects that roost in your sleeping space at night, though results are indeed species-specific.
Removing light sources can reduce flying insect activity in indoor locations by as much as half. But that only works for flying insect species that are attracted to light, like moths and flying beetles. Bed bugs, fleas, and many crawling insects depend on body heat and carbon dioxide to locate hosts, so light has no bearing on their behavior. Moreover, some studies show that certain insects, such as cockroaches, actually shun the light, so a dark room may be more attractive to these pests.
How to Understand Lights and Connection Between Bugs?
The connection between lights and bugs can be understood by these following things:
- Light Color Matters
Different colors of light attract different quantities of insects. Warm-colored lights (such as yellow, orange, and red) lure 60 percent fewer insects than cool white or blue lights. When outside, use yellow “bug lights,” which can greatly decrease your light’s drawing power on nocturnal pests but still allow you to see.
- Important Placement Considerations for the Lights
By putting windows in their respective positions and having lights placed in away areas, bug entry can be minimal in sleeping areas. Placing exterior lights farther from doors and windows lessens the likelihood that insects will congregate near entrances. Indoor lights placed away from windows likewise reduce the “beacon effect” that could attract bugs to your home.
- Light Timing Strategies
Timers or motion sensors minimize the total amount of insect-attracting light while still retaining the security benefits of lighting. Limiting light exposure only when it is necessary has been shown to reduce insect accumulation by 70% compared to leaving the lights on the entire night.
- Bug-Specific Light Responses
That insight into which insects respond to which lights can help improve the targeting of such protection efforts. Yellow LED lights attract mosquitoes less than old-version incandescent bulbs. In contrast, moths are strongly attracted to ultraviolet elements in white LED lights, which makes these most problematic during the months in which moths are active.