LEDs on the other hand—both “cool‐white” and “warm‐white”—were the least attractive to insects. Yellow-hued light bulbs are worth trying, too. “Yellow lights—and red lights—do not attract insects as much as regular white lights,” Russell says.
What color LED lights do not attract bugs? Bugs can see Ultraviolet (UV), blue and green. That is why they are attracted to white or bluish lights such as mercury vapor, white incandescent, and white fluorescent. On the other hand, yellowish, pinkish, or orange are the least attractive to the bugs.
According to LED Lights Unlimited, LED lights won't attract bugs like normal incandescent light bulbs because they don't emit as much heat. Using yellow or red LED lights will repel bugs even more because these colors make it hard for bugs to see. However, cool-white and warm-white LED lights will also repel bugs.
Bright white or bluish lights (mercury vapor, white incandescent and white florescent) are the most attractive to insects. Yellowish, pinkish, or orange (sodium vapor, halogen, dichroic yellow) are the least attractive to most insects.
LED bulbs are built to be more efficient and give off much less heat. Insects feel less of a change in temperature, so they aren't drawn to these lights. This means you are not only running a more efficient household: you are avoiding bugs.
Other bugs tend to gravitate toward bright colors, like yellow, white, or orange. So while green attracts spiders, it repels their food sources. The color that spiders tend to hate is light blue.
Which Paint Colors Repel Insects? Because bugs see colors on the UV spectrum, they cannot register hues of green or blue. Painters even use blue paint to repel bees and wasps. Painting your porch ceiling in a blue tone could repel wasps, leading to fewer wasp-eating spiders around your home!
LED lights are optimal: LEDs are an energy efficient alternative to lighting that is about 90% more efficient than a traditional light bulb. As a result, they also tend to put off less bug-attracting heat.
Torches, in combination with citronella candles near your seating area, are a great way to keep bugs at bay while providing just the right ambiance for nights outdoors. If you do install torches, be sure to follow these guidelines for safe use: Position torches at least six feet away from the house.
Using LED lights, the light they produce gives off little heat and uses longer wavelengths. They also produce little to no UV lighting, which means that overall, the bulbs in LED lights produce nothing that insects find attractive.
Black lights. Ultraviolet or near-ultraviolet “black lights” (the lights in “bug zappers”, but without the electronic grid) are highly attractive to many night-flying moths, beetles and other insect and insect relatives. Light traps are commercially-available through entomological supply catalogs or sources.
Does It Work? In a word, yes. Installing a yellow light bulb in your porch light, or any outdoor fixture will cut down the number of insects around it so much that you may think it's eliminated them.
However, bug lights can keep bugs away for longer than they otherwise would if you used just a regular incandescent, CFL, or LED bulb. But once a few bugs find the light, other bugs are sure to follow. The best way to keep bugs away is just to turn off any light you're not using.
They do not see the warmer colors beyond yellow wavelengths and are therefore not as attracted to yellow-orange LED light bulbs (compared to blue light bulbs or fluorescent lights), because they cannot see them as those colors are on the edge of a bug's range of vision.
Yellow and amber LED lights will attract the fewest number of insects and bugs. White and blue LED lights attract the most amount of bugs, with ultraviolet and green LED lights also attracting bugs. Red LED lights are the least appealing to bugs—but unfortunately can be less useful for human use.
Bugs naturally are attracted to vibrant colors such as orange, yellow, or white. Colours such as blue and green will not register as vividly when viewed in the ultraviolet spectrum, which deters bugs away from those colored items.
Essential Oils
Lemongrass, citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, tea tree, citronella, catnip, and lavender oils all possess properties that repel bugs. The oils can be used individually or combined to make a simple anti-bug potion. Mix about 1 cup of water with 25-30 total drops of oil into a small spray bottle.
Peppermint. Peppermint essential oil might just be the holy grail of natural pest repellents to leave around your home's entry points, as it can help keep away ticks, spiders, roaches, moths, flies, fleas, beetles, and ants. Use sachets of this oil near your doors and windows or try making a diffuser or spray.
It's all to do with the color spectrum. Amber lights emit light in the 590-nanometer range, which is less attractive to insects, as compared to blue or white lights that emit light in the 450-nanometer range, which does attract insects.
How Phototaxis Affects Insects. A phototactic animal or insect is one that instinctively moves to or away from light. The bugs that are swarming around your porch lights are positively phototactic, which means that they're attracted to it.
LED lights have become a popular choice for home lighting because of their energy efficiency compared to traditional incandescent bulbs. It does not attract spiders and bugs unnecessarily. If you notice more spiders around LED lights, there are many reasons behind this.
By contrast, spiders seem to hate the colour blue, especially light blue. It is not completely clear why this is, but there are a couple of theories. Blue is the colour of the sky, and it may make spiders feel vulnerable to predators by making it seem that they are not under any protective cover.
Researchers in Malaysia published a study last month that suggests that the Skrillex song “Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites” is able to affect mosquito behaviour. According to their research, the insects bit less and refrained from mating when the song was played.
There are other possibilities, though. The Perfume Expert advises scents that lean into the citrus end of the spectrum, with notes of lemon, lemon verbena, and grapefruit for repelling mosquitoes, bees, and wasps. These aromatic scents interfere with their respiratory systems, making it hard for them to breathe.