Experimentally comparing the attractiveness of domestic lights to insects: Do LEDs attract fewer insects than conventional light types?

Abstract

LED lighting is predicted to constitute 70% of the outdoor and residential lighting markets by 2020. While the use of LEDs promotes energy and cost savings relative to traditional lighting technologies, little is known about the effects these broad‐spectrum “white” lights will have on wildlife, human health, animal welfare, and disease transmission. We conducted field experiments to compare the relative attractiveness of four commercially available “domestic” lights, one traditional (tungsten filament) and three modern (compact fluorescent, “cool‐white” LED and “warm‐white” LED), to aerial insects, particularly Diptera. We found that LEDs attracted significantly fewer insects than other light sources, but found no significant difference in attraction between the “cool‐” and “warm‐white” LEDs. Fewer flies were attracted to LEDs than alternate light sources, including fewer Culicoides midges (Diptera: Ceratopogonidae). Use of LEDs has the potential to mitigate disturbances to wildlife and occurrences of insect‐borne diseases relative to competing lighting technologies. However, we discuss the risks associated with broad‐spectrum lighting and net increases in lighting resulting from reduced costs of LED technology.

Migratory bats are attracted by red light but not by warm‐white light: Implications for the protection of nocturnal migrants

“…() recorded more bats of the genus Pipistrellus under white light conditions than under darkness, indicating that species of this genus might hunt opportunistically for insects around white light sources. In our experiment, the relatively high number of feeding buzzes emitted by Nathusius’ bats in the presence of warm‐white LED indicated hunting behavior, even though warm‐white LED light is considered less attractive for insects than cold‐white LED (Eisenbeis & Eick, ; Wakefield, Broyles, Stone, Jones, & Harris, ).…”

Quantifying the attractiveness of broad‐spectrum street lights to aerial nocturnal insects

“…The LED light we used was rated as “neutral white” at 4,250 K, slightly “cooler/bluer” than the 4,000 K LEDs used by Pawson and Bader (). Differences in CCTs are unlikely to be the main cause of disparity here as abundances of insects caught at LEDs varying in CCT did not differ from one another statistically (Pawson & Bader, ; Wakefield, Broyles, Stone, Jones, & Harris, ); although see Longcore et al. () concerning LED spectral‐tuning.…”

The impact of artificial light at night on nocturnal insects: A review and synthesis

“…Historically, light traps have been used by scientists to survey community composition, monitor beneficial insects (Nabli, Bailey, & Necibi, ), and control insect pest populations (e.g., Goretti, Coletti, Veroli, Giulio, & Gaino, ; Pawson, Watt, & Brockerhoff, ; Wallner & Baranchikov, ). The most common insect orders attracted to and captured in light traps are Diptera, Coleoptera, and Lepidoptera (Mikkola, ; van Grunsven et al, ; Wakefield et al, ). Light‐trapping equipment can differ from ALAN in important ways: Experimental light traps usually emit more short wavelengths, are often without glass shields (which filter UV), and are placed near the ground (Degen et al, ).…”

“…Among the common positively phototactic insects, moths (Frank, 1988(Frank, , 2006MacGregor, Pocock, Fox, & Evans, 2015) and aquatic insects (Perkin, Hölker, & Tockner, 2014;Yoon, Kim, Kim, Jo, & Bae, 2010) are best studied. Comparative surveys have shown that, relative to their calculated visibility, short wavelengths are disproportionately attractive to many insects (Barghini & de Medeiros, 2012;Mikkola, 1972; see also Wakefield et al, 2016 for a discussion of infrared wavelengths). Although most insects can perceive short wavelengths (Briscoe & Chittka, 2001;Kelber & Roth, 2006), certain families of moths are more attracted to them than others (van Langevelde, Ettema, Donners, WallisDeVries, & Groenendijk, 2011;Somers-Yeates et al, 2013, see also Wölfling, Becker, Uhl, Traub, & Fiedler, 2016).…”

“…Exposure to blue light at night is known to cause insomnia and increased disease risk in humans (American Medical Association, ). However, the effects of this widespread spectral shift on other organisms have only recently attracted the attention of researchers (Davies et al, ; Donners et al, ; Gaston, Visser, & Hölker, ; Justice & Justice, ; Lewanzik & Voigt, ; Longcore et al, ; Pawson & Bader, ; Plummer, Hale, O'Callaghan, Sadler, & Siriwardena, ; Somers‐Yeates, Hodgson, McGregor, Spalding, & Ffrench‐Constant, ; Spoelstra et al, ; van Grunsven et al, ; van Langevelde, Grunsven, Veenendaal, & Fijen, ; Wakefield, Broyles, Stone, Jones, & Harris, ).…”