On a hike in the woods i noticed to my benefit that bugs had no interest in 2.8-3.5A of 1A or 1B tint light.
Can anyone confirm this, or was i just in the forest of mystery?
I would have thought that the large blue tint in the LED spectrum would be a bug magnet.
I’ll try that out when it’s dark and report back. 
according to the datasheet the LED puts out very little light at 480nm blue
I should point out these are cool white, CRI of 65 LEDs
Well, I must be Prime Rib on two legs, because the Bugs fricking go nuts when I go out to the Garden with my LEDs. They swarm my arm, fly in my eyes, nose, and mouth and literally go into a frenzy. Maybe it is my cologne or the Viagra, or the Centrum Silver, or hell, maybe I am a pheromone queen, but they like me and my LEDs…
Most bugs see in the UV spectrum and can’t see most visible light. LED bulbs are well known for not being bug magnets. They totally ignore all my outdoor and garage LED lighting.
You sir made my night. That was fantastically hilarious! :bigsmile:
I feel like I remember bugs hitting my LED table lamp camping……I do however remember the bewilderment I had wehn I saw dead bugs in my citronella candle. Repel bugs my ass!
Yes, UV light is used in general to catch beetles, moths, etc. One time a may bug came strait into the glass lens of my VG10, then when I proceeded forward and looked back for a bit, it again homed in onto the LED and bumped onto the glass lens. That was the only time an insect was attracted to a XM-L LED flashlight that I own.
very interesting, so LED street lights and future automotive lighting will have the advantage of less bugs (somewhat less bug splatter)
I was swimming in my pool today with an led flashlight. I noticed that the insects were very attracted to the light, which was provided by an xml. A cool thing I did was take an ant that was on top of the water and put it on my finger. Next I shone the flashlight from the opposite side so as to make my finger glow. Next, I would irritate the ant causing it to freak out. It was really cool watching the pincers close and open, and then for the ant to bite my finger.
There is some disagreement in this thread, perhaps many flying bugs follow pyro’s explanation, and others can see and are attracted to the visible light?
I can understand ants being able to see visible light
Maybe you want to read this: http://www.cree.com/~/media/Files/Cree/Lighting/Misc%20Tech%20Docs/InsectVision_UVColorandLEDLight.pdf
I was actually noticing too that I had less bug and moth visitors than I’d expect with my night hikes through the forest. I dont think it attracts as much as other light sources.
very interesting, thank you
You're welcome.
It seems some use Mercury-vapor lamp for insect collecting, such lamps appear to be manufactured clear or with a white coating to reduce the UV? Anyway the same are used for street lighting and would seems they attract insect really well, especially the clear glass ones.
It seem they have quite a broad spectrum in the lower wavelengths which we cannot see, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury-vapor_lamp
Kind of relevant, but when I use anything over 100kcd on flying insects they go down.
I can just shoot them down, like a gun. They ultimately end up recovering in about 30 seconds though. I think I need to get something stronger… something with around 350kcd.
Odd, what kind of insects are you “shooting down” and with what light? I have not noticed this around where I am, and sometimes I do shine directly at large moths and bugs I find flying.
A dedomed Trustfire X6 running a 9A driver and my eBay 85w hid are the only ones capable of shooting them down at the moment.
The hid measures at around 220kcd, and the X6 has just over 100kcd (100.2).
It’s true some people are more attractive to e.g., the mosquito. Proteins in your scent attract them. Having type O blood and pregnancy also put one higher on the list.
One time I was sitting on the porch reading via ceiling bounce. I was using a 3C Mag XP-G, quite throwy with dim spill. After a while I realized a ton of bugs appeared to be swarming the hotspot on the ceiling. Strangely none were bothering me. The mosquitoes and some other insects appeared to chase the hotspot if I moved it. I helped out a few spiders!