Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
Comparative Study on Nocturnal Insects Attracted
To Various Light Sources
Jismy M Antony1 & Anu P Sebastian2
1,2
Department of Zoology, Assumption College Changanacherry
Abstract: This study investigated the influence of
different sources of light such as such as CFL
bulb, Incandescent bulb, and LED bulb on
nocturnal insects. Insect collections were found to
be higher in the rainy day than the normal dry day.
Light attracted insect includes Kissing bug, Moth,
Grasshopper, Cricket, Dragonfly, Bugs, Butterflies,
Lantern fly. Six orders of insects were found to be
attracted to the light source with a significant
dominance for incandescent bulb followed by CFL
bulb and least towards LED bulb. Among the
insects order Dipterans are the dominant group
that attracted to the light sources. Hemipteran were
found to attracted secondly towards all the light
source.
1. Introduction
Phylum Arthropod occupies the first place in the
animal kingdom. It is the largest and the most
dominant group of animal on the earth at present.
Arthropod is generally segmented coelom and
jointed limbed animals with
exoskeleton
containing chitin, moulting periodically and
without true nephridia cilia in there structure.[15]
Arthropod has mainly five classes .They are
Crustacean, Arachnoidia, Insecta, Myriapoda, and
Onychophora.Insects which are attracted the light
at night porch light and other artificial light sources
are usually buzzing with flying insect. Most insects
have two types of photoreceptive organs,
compound eyes and ocelli. Artificial light attract
moth, flies, beetles, and all sort of other
insect.Unfortunately for the insect their attracted to
artificial light is a cruel trick caused by our
innovation moving faster than their evolution
.Night flying insect evolved to navigate by the light
of the moon .By keeping the moon reflected light at
a constant angle the insect can maintain a steady
light path and a straight source .Artificial light
interfere with an insect’s ability to detect the
moonlight .They appear bright and radiate their
light in multiple direction. Once an insect flies
close enough to a light bulb it attempt to navigate
by way of the artificial light rather than the moon.
Of the light sources that attract nocturnal insects,
those that emit relatively large amounts of UV
radiation (blue fluorescent lights, black lights, and
mercury lamps) exert the strongest attraction
[3,7,17] Insect light traps using blue fluorescent
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
light were used widely to control rice stem borer,
Chilo suppressalis
Walker, and Tryporyza
incertulas Walker moths in paddy fields across
Japan during World War II and the postwar period
[13]. Insects that are attracted to these yellowish
devices include important crop pests such as
planthoppers, leafhoppers, aphids, whiteflies,
thrips, and leafminer flies [10,16,22].The purpose
of this study was to compare the potential impact of
these various lamps on insect ecologies. The
purpose of this study was to compare the potential
impact of these various lamps on insect ecologies
2. Methods
A comparative study were done on the attracting
insect towards different light sources such as LED
bulb, Incandescent bulb, and CFL bulb were
evaluated.
Study
area
is
located
in
Kainakarypanchayath,
Alappuzha
district.
Sampling involved using of improvised setup of
four blue LED white bulbs, four Incandescent
bulbs, and four CFL bulbs arranged randomly and
installed at three Corners of the house. Oil papers
were placed on the side of the bulbs used to trap
the insects. The study was conducted for one month
and it was during the 1 st December 2015 to 31 st
December 2015 .The data was recorded everyday
of the all 4 weeks. Data recording was done during
night hours from 7 pm to 11 pm. The insect orders
were identified using insect key, data were
tabulated, analyzed and discussed in relation to
available literature.
3. Results
Insect collections were significantly different
according to the Climate. The phenomenon of light
attraction towards light source is maximum in the
first and second week, of the experiment. Insect
collections were found to be higher in the rainy day
than the normal dry day. Light attracted insect
includes Kissing bugs, Moths,
Grasshoppers,
Crickets, Dragonflies, Bugs, Butterflies, Lantern
flies.Six orders of insect were found attracted to the
light source with a significant dominance for
incandescent bulb followed by CFL bulb and least
towards LED bulb. Among the insects order
Dipterans is the dominant group that attracted to
Page 1559
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
the light sources.Hemipteran were found to
attracted secondly towards all the light source.
Orthoptera, Lepidoptera,Odonata and Homoptera
were also found towards light source.See Table:1
Table 1: LIGHT ATTRACTION CAPABILITY OF VARIOUS INSECTS
INCANDESCENT LAMPS
CFL LAMPS
ORDERs
LED LAMPS
ODONATA
1
7
2
12
3
9
4
4
1
12
2
65
3
8
4
5
1
7
2
3
3
4
4
8
LEPIDOPTERA
7
8
12
9
8
5
2
3
2
9
14
5
DIPTERA
78
81
76
65
34
25
24
42
58
53
47
49
HEMIPTERA
31
38
40
29
9
14
8
9
15
4
4
9
ORTHOPTERA
12
8
13
14
8
5
6
4
7
6
8
9
HOMOPTERA
7
14
8
11
6
8
2
1
2
4
1
0
4. Discussion
Light attraction of insect fauna towards different
light sources was found to be an interesting
phenomenon in nature. Hongayo Menelo et al
2014 reported that insects belonged to ten orders
were found to be attracted to different light sources
and were Lepidoptera, Hymenoptera, Dipterans,
Orthoptera, Hemiptera, Psocoptera, Isopterans,
Neuropteran and Embiidina.Present study clearly
revealed that insects collected ,around from the
various light sources belongs to the the Orders
Odonata, Lepidoptera, Diptera, Hemiptera,
Orthoptera and Homoptera. The insect orders
attracted towards the light with a significant
dominance for Diptera followed by Hemiptera and
Orthoptera. The maximum number of insects were
attracted towards Incandescent bulbs followed by
CFL and LED bulbs. The members of Dipterans
composed of flies and they may get attracted to the
various light sources due to the response of their
visual stimuli .Second group of insects attracted
belongs to the order Hemiptera. The phenomenon
of insect attraction towards various light sources
may be due to the physiological mechanism that
synchronise with the frequency or wavelength of
the light spectrum.Most of the insects were
attracted to artificial light sources because of its
colour,heat .These responses to light are
substantially influenced by a variety of factors,
including light intensity and wavelength,
combinations of wavelengths, time of exposure,
direction of light source, and the contrast of light
source intensity and color to that of ambient light.
In addition, the impact of light on insect behavior
varies both qualitatively and
quantitatively
depending on the light source (lncadescent bulb ,
light-emitting diode [LED] and CFL bulb,
[1,5,12,1519,20,21,22]. Present study suggests that
insects prefer Incandescent light bulbs than other
light sources .Incandescent bulbs emit greater heat
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
than fluorescent light tubes, and insects prefer the
colour of this source.In additition to this they get
reasonable heat probably to gain some warmth.
Imms 1970 , also supports the fact that heat can
attracts
insects. .The phenomenon of light
attraction towards different source of light may also
be governed by the wavelength and frequency of
light spectrum and also climatic ecological features
of area. Hence Incandescent bulbs are the most
insect friendly and better for house and open area
use.
5.
Conclusion
The present study concluded that the insect orders
attracted towards the light with a significant
dominance for Diptera followed by Hemiptera and
Orthoptera. The maximum number of insects were
attracted towards Incandescent bulbs followed by
CFL and LED bulb
6. Bibliography
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
A, Antignus ,Y “Manipulation of wavelengthdependent behavior of insects: an IPM tool to
impede insects and restrict epidemics of
insect-borne viruses.” Virus Res; 2000 ;71pp
:213–220
A. Florian, B. Adrian, and E. Dieter,
“Experimental evidence for male biased flightto-light behavior in two moth species,”
Entomologia Experimentalis et Applicata, vol.
130, no. 3, pp. 259–265, 2009.
Aoki S, Kuramitsu O “Development of insectattracting lighting fixture and evaluation of
insect attractiveness by a new index.” J Illum
Engng Inst Jpn 2007 ; 91 pp :195–198
B. Buck, “Perception of red light by firefly,
Photinus Col,” Physiological Zoology, 1937;
pp. 45–58
Coombe ,PE “Wavelength specific behaviour
of the whitefly Trialeurodes vaporariorum
Page 1560
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Vol-2, Issue-7, 2016
ISSN: 2454-1362, http://www.onlinejournal.in
6.
7.
8.
9.
(Homoptera: Aleyrodidae)”. J Comp Physiol
1981 ,144: pp 83–90
Coombe PE“ Visual behaviour of the
greenhouse
whitefly,
Trialeurodes
vaporariorum. ” Physiol Entomol 1982; pp
7:243–251
Cowan T, Gries G “ Ultraviolet and violet
light: attractive orientation cues for the Indian
meal moth, Plodia interpunctella” Entomol Exp
Appl 2009 ;131 pp:148–158
D. Imms, “A Textbook of General
Entomology”, Butter and tanner, Frome, Great
Britain, 1970
D. L. Hartl and A. G. Clark, “ Principles of
Population Genetics”, Sinauer Associates,
Sunderland, Mass, USA, 3rd edition, 1997.
22. Smith JG “Influence of crop background on
aphids and other phytophagous insects on
Brussels sprouts”. Ann Appl Biol 1976; 83
pp:1–13
23. Vaishampayan SM, Kogan M, Waldbauer GP,
Wooley JT “Spectral specific responses in the
visual beaviour of the greenhouse whitefly,
Trialeurodes
vaporariorum
(Homoptera:
Aleurodidae) ”. Entomol Exp Appl 1975 18: pp
344–356
24. WillamH Robinson“Urban insects and
Arachnids;A handbook of urban entomology
1993
25. WWW.if/science.com/plants and animals/whyare-bugs-attracted-light July 2014.
10. Esker PD, Obrycki J, Nutter FW “Trap height
and orientation of yellow sticky traps affect
capture of Chaetocnema pulicaria (Coleoptera:
Chrysomelidae) ”. J Econ Entomol 2004 ;97:
pp 145–149
11. F. Curtis and J. D. Lines, “Should DDT be
banned by International treaty?” Parasitology
Today, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 119–121, 2000.
12. Honda K“ Reactions to light in insects and
practical applications”. J Soc Biomech 2011;
35 pp:233–236 (in Japanese)
13. Hongayo M C, Navales C P, Quieta Jr. D.,
Signo ,A,R “Light attracted insect taxa in
Songculan Lagoon, Songculan, Dauis, Bohol,
Philippines”
In
J
of
fauna
and
boil.studies.2014;3;pp 04 -07
14. Ishikura S “ Subsequent fluorescent light trap.
” J Agric Sci 1950 5 pp:15–19 (in Japanese
15. Johansen NS, Va¨nninen I, Pinto DM, Nissinen
AI, Shipp L“ In the light of new greenhouse
technologies: ” 2. “ Direct effects of artificial
lighting on arthropods and integrated pest
management in greenhouse crops”.Ann Appl
Biol 2011 ,159;: pp 1–27
16.
Kotpal R.L. , Arthropoda. ., Rastogl
publications 1976 pp44-47
17. Mainali BP, Lim U “ Circular yellow sticky
trap with black
background enhances
attraction
of
Frankliniella
occidentalis
(Pergande) (Thysanoptera: Thripidae) ”. Appl
Entomol Zool 2010, 45, pp:207–213
18. Matsumoto Y “Ultraviolet radiation and insect
life”. Plant Prot
1998 52 pp:77–82 (in
Japanese)
19. Matteson N, Terry I, Ascolichristensen A,
Gilbert C “Spectral efficiency of the western
flower thrips, Frankliniella occidentalis”. J
Insect Physiol 1992 ;38 pp:453–459
20. Nissinen A, Kristoffersen L, Anderbrant O
“Physiological state
of female and light
intensity affect the host-plant selection of
carrot psyllid, Trioza apicalis (Hemiptera:
Triozidae). ” Eur J Entomol 2008 ;105
pp:227–232
21. Prokopy RJ, Owens ED “Visual detection of
plants by herbivorous insects”. Annu Rev
Entomol 1983; 28 pp:337–364
Imperial Journal of Interdisciplinary Research (IJIR)
Page 1561