LED light vs. attracting insects

I think it’s more about your comfort when walking and holding/wearing a light. It does make a diffrence if you feed like a target for 100 000 bugs, or not. At least this is how this thread started…

You’re right that the diffrence in white light may be neglible at least to those working as blue light+ thru phosphor layer.

thanks for sharing your tests

another question
I know that the 4000k N219b is some “medical” flashlights, claim “No Blue Light Hazzard”

I dont know what that means… since as you say, there IS some blue light.

I suggest you do an experiment with two of your own flashlights… stand them up outdoors, a few feet apart, and watch to see which one attracts more bugs :slight_smile:

“I don’t have to run faster than the bear. I just have to run faster than you.”

It’s all relative. 6500K vs 5000K, bugs will go to the former. 5000K vs 2200K, again, bugs will go to the former. 2200K vs monochromatic amber, yet again, bugs will go to the former.

There might still be blue light in X, but as long as X has less blue light than Y, they’ll head on over to Y instead.

It certainly has a blue spike (= not free of blue light hazard) but probably/hopefully limited.


I guess that the more the blue spike curve match the blue light hazard function (curve) the more it is considered to be blue light hazard.

thanks Tally-ho, I like that chart

fwiw, here is a light that claims
the output has an RG0 rating to eliminate blue-light hazards
https://www.amazon.com/Nitecore-MT06MD-Flashlight-Batteries-Organizer/dp/B06XCKNFSN

here is a similar light, without the “no blue-light hazzard” marketing spin
https://www.amazon.com/LUMINTOP-Penlight-Rendering-Diagnostic-Waterproof/dp/B07C9XP692/

That’s advertisement BS or they have no idea what they talking about. 4000K is very high in blue light content unless it uses a violet pump but violet light is higher energy so it might contain other dangers that we are not yet aware of. 3000K would be the cutoff for acceptable level of blue light IMO. However, I don’t doubt 4000K 219B 9080 makes for a good medical light due to it’s very good color rendering and near BBL tint, and is still a good NW.

One thing I notice is that when I get blasted in the eye by a 2000K, it is less painful and it takes much less time for my eyes to readapt to the darkness than a cooler temp light.

Growing up, I was taught to use an actual yellow or orange incandescent light as a porch or outside door light. This was anecdotally taught and became accepted as fact that the purpose for using such such colored lights was to provide light while not attract bugs, and seemed to work.

When my wife and I bought our house, she just didn’t like the yellow colored bulb above our side door and had me change it out for a normal incandescent lamp.

I did notice a change in the amount flying insects with the change of lamps. Yellow attracted many less insects than white.

good info
I agree

I suspect moquitoes also become more mellow under yellow light

maybe someone will do a test with a pair of flashlights, a warm and a cool
I look forward to the enlightening results

I somewhat recall reading someone posted on BLF that from their real life experience, the insects would flock to the cooler light and ignore the warmer light but once the cooler light was turned off, the insects would swarm the warmer light. I don’t know what CCT they were.

Night Strategy, cool decoy, warm user

Flyers also targer our breath, especially daytime flyers. , co2 is bait
Smoke is repellant(incense, etc)

A flashlight tailstanding on a picnic table during the day, or a glass of water in sunlight, keeps flies away. They navigate by the sun, additional light sources are repellant (hanging CD’s also repel daytime flies)

For mosquitoes, different species attracted to different wavelengths. There’s a rock solid study about it. I replaced my mosquito and fly zapper UV light tube with 450nm “dephosphored” LED. The intention was to reduce eye strain from the OEM 390nm UV light tube.
Thanks to this thread, I forgot I promised to update the result: very low catch for both mosquitoes and flies. UV wavelenghts still more attractive to them. I killed more night moths than those bloodsuckers, and almost never caught any flies unless they flew drunk.

[Clemence]

Interesting reads: https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=2002&context=usdaarsfacpub

[Clemence]

thanks for the link clemence

it says, by my reading, that CO2 is a stronger attractant than lights
Zero light attracts the most, followed by green, which is stronger than IR, which is stronger than blue
and red attracted ZERO

so, to stop mosquitos from finding you, hold your breath, and use Red light

I just want to know how to kill ’em dead.

We recently had a late-night spraying for skeeters. Feh. They just laffed it off and went back to biting in full force.

trap, soda bottle, water sugar, vinegar, or yeast

add a cool white LED if you like :wink:

Sweaty naked hot human body + panting warm breath is definitely the best bait to summon any mosquito
No lights needed

[Clemence]

Hey.
Here in Queensland we’re pretty much an Amazon Clone.
regarding Rain. Insects.Croc’s and bities.

we use Yellow lights round the outside decks at home. To deter them. It does.
with “Mozzie Zappers” at the ends of.
NOT near your group.

The Yellow lights tend to not attract as white does.
and the Zappers. (UV I believe) They a purple light.

They just attract everything that flies in the dark to the Elements inside of them.
ZAPPP. All dead.
A large moth is a sound to behold.
Zapp… Crackle. Crackle. Crunch. SMOKO time.
We’ve been using them here for the 46yrs I’ve been here and longer.

Zapper makes a mess under itself.

Missus just said “” Tell them I said. You’re one sick bastard”.
and she says spray surface spray around the surfaces where you congregating.
It tends to keep them away too.

not as satisfying tho, Missus
hear me roar…(Tarzan thumping gorilla call)

Permethrin treated clothes will kill them. However, sometimes they die after they bite you. It works better for ticks and even kills scorpions. Use it with your UV light somehow… see, this is not entirely off topic!

As long as I can laff and gloat watching their final death-spasms, I’m okay with that.

Looked up permethrin vs pyrethrum. I got a concentrate I was going to spray alllllllll around front’n’back, but forgot which was which. Former has a warning, “highly toxic to cats”, so that’s a no-go.

My problem isn’t with clothes, though, it’s skin. Something here only comes around down-low, and I never see it, only feel it after my toe, ankle, calf, etc., starts itching like crazy. Got a half-dozen itchy welts to show for it.

Damn the snow, but at least in winter there are no skeeters here.

I think my electronical tennis-racquet is wonky. Lights up when I press the trigger, but no zap. Last 2 skeeters I cornered with it, I literally used the edge to smoosh them against the wall after trapping them. Usually they try to fly through the mesh and go zap, but not anymore. When I was batting one around in mid-air, yeah, that’s when I finally figured out there’s something wrong. No satisfying snap/crackle/pop.

After being drained about a pint low a few days ago, I couldn’t find the SOB that was coming after me. Used my Cometa on full, finally saw it sitting on my laptop right next to the camera-hole. Wasn’t gonna let any opportunity go to waste, so grabbed a can of bugspray (which is now in my standard arsenal now), aimed high, sprayed, and dragged it low. Watched said SOB writhing in agony next to the wifi-on light. Had to clean dried bugspray off the display, of course, but it was worth it.

I think I’ll use one of the UVLEDs that VOB sent me to make a wholesale skeeter-killer. Gnats, too, as they’re around, too, and go right through screens like they’re not even there.

Was gonna add, “This is war!”, but to quote Dalek Sec, “This is not war. This is pest-control!”.

Works for me…