LEDs and mosquitos?

[Lux Luthor]

I know this is an obscure question, and no one may respond to this for lack of an answer, but we're having a lot of insect carried diseases around here. So I was wondering if insects are attracted or repelled by LED lights, and whether they respond differently to different colors. Have any of you outdoor types noticed any effects on insects while using LED lights?

 

[funk]

I don't have an answer, but I really like the question. Look forward to any thoughts.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Bugs generally have a hard time seeing yellow so a yellow or orange LED probably would attract less bugs. Insects tend to be attracted to green, blue and ultraviolet I believe. Thats why the bug zappers use black lights.

I dont think there are any colors that actively repel bugs - just colors that are less attractive.

 

[JollyRoger]

Yes, I agree. I believe that even whites are ok to use, as they do not really emit any UV? I think I read somewhere (theledlight.com???) that led's (except the UV, of course) like white, yellow, red, etc. (maybe not blue) are ok for use near bugs--they won't ATTRACT them.

 

[Darell]

I don't know what happens to them when they fly through a green laser beam, but they sure sparkle!

 

[bigcozy]

In about a month I can have a lot of field research done on this!!!

 

[RevJim]

One of you guys will end up a millionaire by selling strings of leds for outdoor party use.

I can just imagine what the commercials would look like!

 

[Evan]

"Bugs arn't attracted to white LEDs because they have no UV":

Yeh, I read that on somebody's web site, too; but I really doubt it because white LEDs are blue LEDs with a phosphor, and the Blue LEDs can definitely show some UV effects.

 

[**DONOTDELETE**]

Mosquitoes have the ability to see shorter wavelengths (up to UV) than humans but are a lot less sensitive to longer wavelengths like red or yellow. Thats why those bug lights you get at Kmart filter out the shorter wavelengths so they look yellow.

A white LED will definately attract them due to the large amounts of blue light.

 

[Josh]

I don't have an answer either, but i'm not that far from you and don't want that crap either. try the electronic repelant? seems to work. they have very small units now,do a google search and something will show up. later, josh

DAMN SKEETERS

 

[The_LED_Museum]

I saw a "mosquito killer" in some chintzy catalogue a few days ago that used blue LEDs as an attractant. The machine then supposedly vaccumes them up and deposits them into a little plastic cup to desiccate and die.

 

[JollyRoger]

ahahahha...probably Sharper Image catalog...

 

[Lux Luthor]

Thanks all.

Sounds like if the white LEDs don't filter out the UV, then I'm in trouble. I may have to switch to amber for wilderness operations.

Craig, I was hoping you would pop up. Do you know how much UV white LEDs give off?

 

[Luff]

Me, I didn't know, so I called up my handy-dandy zoology professor & friend.

He tells me that mosquitoes are not very photoreactive in the first place ... so the color of a light has little effect one way or the other. They mostly target their blood host by locating concentrations of carbon dioxide (exhaled breath). Heat is a mild stimulus. The only mosquito traps that really work use carbon dioxide to draw the bugs into zapping grids ... that one of those units can clear up to an acre and something like a few hundred thousand mosquitos a night in Florida.

He also said that bug lights neither attract nor repel mosquitoes ... folks just think they keep mosquitos away because other photoreactive night-flying insects don't show up.

He said he doesn't think mosquitos react much to ultraviolet either because there are hardly any in his bug zapper when he empties it ... lots of other bugs, but few mosquitos, and it has a UV source.

And now that I'm off the phone, I realize I should've asked what color would be best to use to avoid photoreactive bugs!

 

[The_LED_Museum]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Lux Luthor:
Thanks all.

Sounds like if the white LEDs don't filter out the UV, then I'm in trouble. I may have to switch to amber for wilderness operations.

Craig, I was hoping you would pop up. Do you know how much UV white LEDs give off?<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

White LEDs using sapphire based 455-475nm GaN blue LEDs emit very little energy below 400nm. Older styles of white LED built on a silicon carbide substrate with a broad emission band and emitting a strong peak at 430nm will emit significant amounts of radiation in the 395-420nm range, though the phosphor deposition tends to mitigate that to some degree.

I've been told there is a zinc selenide white LED being made that uses NO PHOSPHOR, but I have yet to see a specimen of one, and have no information as to its spectral content.

 

[The_LED_Museum]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by JollyRoger:
ahahahha...probably Sharper Image catalog...<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Nope, it wasn't the Sharper Image catalogue. It was some chintzy outfit that sells a lot of TV infomercial products like TV & FM "dish" antennas, cheap plastic vacumes, blenders, garden hose deodorizer, oxi-clean, dog urinals, quack medical gadgets, self-sealing stem bolts, ironing board covers, and steam buggy type cleaning gadgets.

The mosquito killer used a blue LED "attractant" (as the ad called it), and used a catalytic convertor to convert propane (from an RV-type propane tank) into CO2 to further attract the little bloodsucking *******s, then it sucked up the bugs once they flew close enough to the machine.

 

[Lux Luthor]

Thanks Craig. Interesting stuff.

 

[brightnorm]

<BLOCKQUOTE><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by BeamRider:
Me, I didn't know, so I called up my handy-dandy zoology professor & friend.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

BeamRider,

If you get a chance, could you please ask him about those electronic repellors that work either through ultrasonic waves or mosquito predator simulations?

There are so many claims for these things, and so many models and types that I (and I'm sure many others) really don't know what to believe. I seem to remember a Consumers Reports article that said they were ineffective, but I don't recall it clearly.

Brightnorm

 

[snakebite]

my understanding is that the ultrasonic devices mimic the sound of a male flying.btw only the female bites.
i found a few of these at a hamfest for $0.50 ea.
bought them for the solar cells and batts.
i will fire up one of the boards someday and post the freq.

 

[cave dave]

Don't know about skeeters but I did a test last fall.

I had a CCFT Arc White florecent in my tent and left it on when I went for a walk. When I came back the glowing tent was covered with bugs.

I shook off all the bugs and turned on my Matrix with white "traffic" cone and left that on for about the same amount of time.
When I came back there were hardly any bugs.