Do LED Strip Lights Attract Bugs? Complete Guide

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do led strip lights attract bugs

You might have seen how some insects travel toward the light in the dark, you might have personal experience if you are a night owl using the phone under your sheet and tiny insects fly around the light. It is common to see alates, also known as flying termites, in swarms around the flashing headlight when your vehicle is parked at night. However, you might wonder if it is the same with LED strip lights since they are less bright and cooler than regular lights. There are different types of bugs in the biodiversity and different types of lights they are attracted to. Do LED strip lights attract bugs? Well, the honest answer is it depends on each type of bug in the family. But if you keep reading the article, you will be able to find the answers: Do LED strip lights attract bugs?

How Do LED Strip Lights Attract Bugs?

Bugs usually travel towards the light to find the warmth emitted through the bulbs; however, as previously stated, LED strip lights are cooler because they are tiny and consume less watts, thus it doesn’t heat as much as a regular bulb.

Though it might sound impractical to imagine if bugs are attracted to LED strip light, based on the previous statement discussed, there are bugs which travel towards lights with shorter wavelengths, with colours like white, green or cool blue. Because bugs are living in the wild track down their path using the moonlight to find food, and they navigate their path using the moon. As a result, the bugs that travel towards the moon are attracted to lights that can closely imitate the moon. Thus, Bugs might get attracted to LED strip lights because they closely resemble the moon, with short wavelengths. But bugs with thermoreceptors are an exception because they travel towards the heat, and since the LED strips are cool, they won’t appeal to them.

Besides these reasons, previously stated, there are other types of bugs that come to prey on other tiny insects or bugs that travel towards the lights. Thus this is another reason why bugs are attracted.

Many factors affect how LED strip lights attract bugs; below are briefly explained.

  1. Wavelength

The wavelengths play a significant role in the frequency rates for the bug to get attracted towards the LED strip lights. As previously stated, bugs are attracted to lights with shorter wavelengths, which include colours like white, green, blue, or cool yellow, while longer wavelengths use colours like red, orange and warm yellow. Bugs have a specific wavelength they are attracted to; anything beyond that will not attract the bugs.

  1. Heat

Most bugs are attracted to light because the heat emitted from the bulbs, especially in the colder seasons of the year. However, though the LED strip lights are cooler than the standard lights, you might only see them attracted because of the short wavelengths. That is why LED strip lights attract fewer bugs than a standard light.

  1. Colour Scale

As previously stated, the wavelength should give you a brief idea of the colour scale to what colours bugs are attracted to and what colours are exceptions to get attracted. In general, cooler tones, from white to green, have a short wavelength that will attract the bugs most of the time. But colours like warm yellow, orange to red have longer wavelengths and will make the bugs blind.

Why aren’t Bugs Attracted to LED Strip Lights?

Though most bugs are attracted to light because of the heat, or it resembles the moon with a short wavelength, not all bugs are the same—some bugs like living in dark and damp places. You can easily spot bed bugs living under unclean sheets in your bedroom and a booklouse on dusty shelves inside your books and wooden furniture.

These bugs are not only unattracted to LED strip lights, but any light, generally, is an exception. The category includes carpet beetle, booklice, bat bugs, bed bugs etc.

How to Get Rid of Bugs from LED Strip Lights?

LED strip lights include multiple colours like red, blue, yellow and white, which can ignite simultaneously or one colour at a time. Insects are most of the time attracted towards cool colours like blue, white and cool yellow. Bugs attract cooler colours than red, orange or warm yellow. That is why you will see bug and insect catcher lights in the market using UV (Ultra Violet) rays with cooler colour tones.

As previously stated, your LED strip lights closely resemble the moon, with short wavelengths, and bugs can easily collect around your LED strip lights. However, this will not be a pleasant experience when bugs block the lights affecting the quality. It can also be quite annoying when bugs stick around your LED strip lights and may bite or sting you, which can cause medical conditions. Thus, keep reading; below are few tips to get rid of the bugs from LED strip lights.

  1. Since LED strip lights can change multiple colours, you can switch them to orange or red.
  2. You can keep the LED strip lights in flickering mode, distracting the bugs.
  3. You can use double tape along the LED strip lights and hold the bugs coming towards them.

Conclusion 

Bugs or insects are usually attracted towards the light because they need heat, especially in colder seasons, but the circumstances are different with the LED strip lights. LED strip lights are tiny LED bulbs assembled in a row with an adhesive back, these lights are not as powerful as the standard lights, and that’s why they consume fewer watts. According to the previous statements, it can be understood that bugs are less attracted towards LED strip lights than standard bulbs. But LED strip lights have the desired wavelength that can attract bugs.

In the article do LED strip lights attract bugs, we have explored different topics like how are bugs attracted to the LED strips, why aren’t they attracted, including How to get rid of bugs from LED strip lights to make the article more informative.

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