Do LED Lights Attract Bugs: An In-Depth Look at the Relationship Between Light and Bugs

Outdoor lighting always seems to attract bugs. Why? And do LED lights attract bugs? Since you cannot do without landscape, street, and porch lights, it is vital to understand how to reduce a bulb's attraction toward bugs.

Let's get right into it! If you have LED lights in any of your indoor or outdoor spaces that seem to attract bugs, this article explains why this phenomenon occurs. Also, it details how to minimize this attraction.

The Correlation Between Light and Bug Attraction

Phototaxis is the ability of organisms to move towards or in response to a light source. Although some bugs have negative phototaxis, most have the opposite, positive phototaxis. But what exactly attracts them to light? Several studies to experiment on how light attracts bugs have narrowed it down to these three factors.

Moths flying around a neon light fixture

Wavelength

The wavelength of light determines its color. Visible light has a wavelength ranging from around 400-800 nanometers, which includes the light colors red to violet.

The electromagnetic spectrum

Warmer colors in this range, like red and yellow, have longer wavelengths and are less visible to bugs. Most insects cannot even perceive light with a wavelength of about 650 nanometers.

However, they can perceive shorter wavelength light like green, blue, and UV, making them fly towards the light source. Ultraviolet light falls outside the visible spectrum because its wavelength ranges from 300-400 nanometers.

The visible light spectrum

Bugs perceive light in the 300-420 nanometer range, so they usually get attracted to UV light.

Color Temperature

Most LEDs list their correlated color temperature instead of the light wavelength. Color temperature closely relates to the wavelength because both show the light bulb's color.

A light color temperature chart

Warm colors below 3500K emit reddish or yellowish light, which has a longer wavelength. Bugs cannot perceive this white light and, therefore, will not move towards it.

However, cool colors emit blue wavelength colors that are visible to bugs. Therefore, they will attract insects.

Heat

Some bugs have thermoreceptors, meaning they can sense heat. Incandescent bulbs, HID, CFL, and halogen bulbs emit up to 90% of the energy they consume as heat. Therefore, they are stronger bug magnets compared to LEDs.

Why Do Bugs Get Attracted To Light?

Bugs get attracted to light for several reasons, including the following.

For Navigation

The primary reason is for navigation. Bugs use UV light from the sun and moon to find their way, similar to how sailors traditionally relied on stars to navigate the open seas.

Artificial light at night produces higher UV levels than the moon, which disrupts their orientation. This phenomenon explains why flies and moths fly to and around outdoor lights in the dark.

Hunting

Predator bugs know that the insects they consider to be food flock towards light sources. Therefore, they move towards these bulbs to get a meal or a mate, not for navigation.

Looking for a Meal

Some insects feed on nectar from flowers that reflect UV light. Since bulbs emit a small amount of UV, they can cause these insects to mistake artificial lighting sources for flowers.

Escaping The Cold

Like human beings, bugs don't like the cold weather. Therefore, those with thermoreceptors will fly towards any warm place, including a warm bulb.

Escaping From Predators

There is a theory that states some insects get attracted to light as a way to escape from predators. When an insect perceives light, usually cool or bluish lights, it shows the path to the light source does not have obstacles or predators blocking the way. This theory might explain why some bugs fly towards light fixtures and crash into them unknowingly.

Do LED Lights Attract Bugs?

There is no doubt that artificial light attracts bugs. Even LED bulbs attract insects to some extent. However, they are not as strong as incandescent, halogen, HID, or compact fluorescent lights. Why?

As stated earlier, these bulb types emit more heat than LEDs. Therefore, they will attract more bugs with thermoreceptors.

A High-Intensity Discharge lamp

With wavelength and color temperature, these light sources emit higher levels of UV light than LEDs. Fluorescent bulbs produce some of the highest ultraviolet radiation levels, so you can expect several bugs flying around them if you use them as outdoor lights.

Insects flying around a fluorescent tube

However, different bugs see varying light wavelengths, so there is no guarantee that some won't see your LED strip lights and bulbs.

Therefore, LED light bulbs can attract bugs. But since they emit longer wavelengths of light and less heat, they will not pull in as many as the other bulb types.

Incandescent, CFL, and LED bulbs

Which Bugs Do LED Lights Attract

Spiders

Spiders are predators, and areas with LED strip lights are perfect hunting grounds. If you think about it, spiders can help you control the number of bugs. However, since they are scary and dangerous critters, use DEET or sticky traps to eliminate them.

Hornets/Wasps

Like spiders, wasps and hornets are predators that fly towards LED lighting to look for food. You can eliminate them using DEET, permethrin, or sticky traps.

Yellow flypaper traps

Bees

Although rare, LED strip lights can attract bees because they can trigger phototactic responses. We don't recommend killing bees because they are vital pollinators. Instead, try switching off the lights for a while to see if they will leave. If they don't, spray with water or blow them away using a fan.

Flies

Flies and moths follow bright lights for navigation and can find their way to LED strips, more so if they emit a cool color temperature. You can get rid of them using tape or fly traps.

An insect fly trap with a blue and green UV lamp

Centipedes

Centipedes are also predators that feed on other bugs. Their bites can be painful, so you should get rid of them carefully and asap. You can use borax powder, sodium borate, diatomaceous earth, or glue bug traps to get rid of them.

Borax powder

Which Bugs Do LED Lights Not Attract

Ants

Ants get attracted to warmth and UV light. LED lights don't produce enough heat and UV radiation to pull them in.

A UV light source

Cockroaches

Cockroaches have negative phototaxis. They like dark, damp places, not anywhere near bright LED lights.

Bed Bugs

Like roaches, bed bugs have negative phototaxis, meaning they run away from light. You are more likely to find them in dark places, such as in curtains, bedding, and clothes.

What Can You Do To Reduce A Light's Attraction of Bugs?

If you recall, most bugs cannot perceive long wavelengths of light, which include colors like red and yellow. Therefore, if you have RGB or RGBW LED bulbs/strip lights, you can set them to emit warmer colors.

An RGBW LED light bulb.

Alternatively, you can buy LED bug lights (LED bulbs with a yellow casing over the LEDs). Also, it is possible to apply a yellow coat over regular LED bulbs as a DIY project.

A yellow bug light

Wrap Up

There you have it! Modern LED lights can attract bugs. However, they can attract a smaller number than the other traditional light sources. If you need LED bug lights to reduce insect attraction in your indoor and outdoor spaces, reach out, and we'll get back to you asap.