Another reason to switch to LED, Mosquitoes

[Shadow Catcher]

While Malaria is not a huge concern in in the US, LED lights attract fewer Mosquitoes, AND you want the warmer color temperatures!
I had read that blood type affects just how much they love you and I am an O which is the most tasty

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/04/24/led-lights-malaria_n_7136406.html

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3044580/new-led-lights-are-stopping-insects-before-they-bite-us-and-give-us-diseases

The original article http://rstb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/370/1667/20140125

[Socal Tom]

West Nile Virus, Dengue virus and chikenggunya ( probably spelled wrong) have been detected in the continental US. And Europe, and of course in tropical areas of the world. WNV and Dengue can be fatal CHiK, is really painful. Mosquito borne disease is a reality in the US.
My galley lights are the the dioder lights from Ikea, in part because I can turn them red at night which bugs aren't attracted too.
Tom

[jstrubberg]

You have to be careful of the claim that LED's don't attract mosquitos. Specific TYPES of LED's don't attract mosquitos...

[Socal Tom]

Here is the important section

Code: Select all

 We compared numbers of arthropods captured at three customizable light-emitting diode (LED) lamps (3510, 2704 and 2728 K), two commercial LED lamps (2700 K), two commercial compact fluorescent lamps (CFLs; 2700 K) and a control. We configured the three custom LEDs to minimize invertebrate attraction based on published attraction curves for honeybees and moths. Lamps were placed with pan traps at an urban and two rural study sites in Los Angeles, California. For all invertebrate orders combined, our custom LED configurations were less attractive than the commercial LED lamps or CFLs of similar colour temperatures

So standard 2700K LEDs still attracted bugs, but ones are 3510, 2704 and 2728 attracted fewer. So moving off of 2700 seems to make a difference.

Tom

[JuneBug]

West Nile Virus, Dengue virus and chikenggunya ( probably spelled wrong) have been detected in the continental US. And Europe, and of course in tropical areas of the world. WNV and Dengue can be fatal CHiK, is really painful. Mosquito borne disease is a reality in the US.
Tom

I was stunned when I came across this article about an epidemic of Dengue fever in Austin, TX (where I live) in 1885 and other cities across the southeastern tier of the US. Dengue Fever is returning to the US and it is not a new incursion:

Dengue, aka “Breakbone Fever,” Is Back
The vicious virus has re-established itself in the South, and mosquitoes are carrying it north.

In the autumn of 1885, people in Austin, Texas, began to feel sick. One after another, they developed a chill and then a soaring fever. They vomited and broke out in rashes. Their most distinctive symptom was agonizing pain behind their eyes and in the bones of their arms and legs. And when the fever subsided, lack of appetite and deep exhaustion left them unable to work for weeks or months.

Austin had been founded only 46 years before, and it was still small, with just 22,000 people. By the time the epidemic was over, 16,000 of them had fallen ill. A local doctor who described the outbreak in the Journal of the American Medical Association the following year added: “I am informed that other cities ... had as many cases in proportion to the population as did Austin.”

The illness that took out Texas that fall had already devastated Charleston, S.C., in 1828 and Savannah, Ga., in 1850, and it would go on to sicken half the population of Galveston, Texas, in 1897; one-quarter of Monroe, La., in 1922; and one out of every nine people in Miami in 1934. It was dengue—a mosquito-borne virus popularly known as “breakbone fever” for the pain it caused. From the 1820s to the 1940s, it caused recurring epidemics roughly every 10 years.

As noted in the article, DDT spraying campaigns ended Dengue epidemics in the US. Those of us who are older likely remember tanker trucks in our neighborhoods spraying clouds of insecticide. This ended in the 1970s. In addition, I suspect the advent of widespread air conditioning reduced mosquito exposure in general.

Full text of article HERE.

A fellow cyclist that I ride with often was diagnosed with West Nile in August 2012. For him it was like an extremely bad case of the flu with a prolonged recovery. He is pretty sure he was bitten while sitting on his patio for his regular post work glass of wine.

[martymcfly]

that is why we need more bats.

[Breytie]

One reason white LEDs attract bugs is that they normally start with a blue LED chip and then put a dye over the top that absorbs some of the blue light and then radiates light is a different color. The dye is the yellow stuff you see over the LED chip.
Some blue light still goes through to make a more balanced light and that is what attracts the bugs. Warm white will be less attractive than cool white lamps that let more blue out. Red light is invisible to most bugs and is produced as red inside the LED chip.

[Socal Tom]

West Nile Virus, Dengue virus and chikenggunya ( probably spelled wrong) have been detected in the continental US. And Europe, and of course in tropical areas of the world. WNV and Dengue can be fatal CHiK, is really painful. Mosquito borne disease is a reality in the US.
Tom

I was stunned when I came across this article about an epidemic of Dengue fever in Austin, TX (where I live) in 1885 and other cities across the southeastern tier of the US. Dengue Fever is returning to the US and it is not a new incursion:

Dengue, aka “Breakbone Fever,” Is Back
The vicious virus has re-established itself in the South, and mosquitoes are carrying it north.

In the autumn of 1885, people in Austin, Texas, began to feel sick. One after another, they developed a chill and then a soaring fever. They vomited and broke out in rashes. Their most distinctive symptom was agonizing pain behind their eyes and in the bones of their arms and legs. And when the fever subsided, lack of appetite and deep exhaustion left them unable to work for weeks or months.

Austin had been founded only 46 years before, and it was still small, with just 22,000 people. By the time the epidemic was over, 16,000 of them had fallen ill. A local doctor who described the outbreak in the Journal of the American Medical Association the following year added: “I am informed that other cities ... had as many cases in proportion to the population as did Austin.”

The illness that took out Texas that fall had already devastated Charleston, S.C., in 1828 and Savannah, Ga., in 1850, and it would go on to sicken half the population of Galveston, Texas, in 1897; one-quarter of Monroe, La., in 1922; and one out of every nine people in Miami in 1934. It was dengue—a mosquito-borne virus popularly known as “breakbone fever” for the pain it caused. From the 1820s to the 1940s, it caused recurring epidemics roughly every 10 years.

As noted in the article, DDT spraying campaigns ended Dengue epidemics in the US. Those of us who are older likely remember tanker trucks in our neighborhoods spraying clouds of insecticide. This ended in the 1970s. In addition, I suspect the advent of widespread air conditioning reduced mosquito exposure in general.

Full text of article HERE.

A fellow cyclist that I ride with often was diagnosed with West Nile in August 2012. For him it was like an extremely bad case of the flu with a prolonged recovery. He is pretty sure he was bitten while sitting on his patio for his regular post work glass of wine.

Most cases of WNV aren't even recognized as WNV, about 10% become a neurological disorder, and about 1% becomes fatal . I helped develop a blood test for WNV that screens blood donations , so I learned a little about it.
Tom

[JuneBug]

that is why we need more bats.

As a retired caver, I have to agree! Bats are awesome creatures.
Purple martins are also good for mosquito munching.

Most cases of WNV aren't even recognized as WNV, about 10% become a neurological disorder, and about 1% becomes fatal . I helped develop a blood test for WNV that screens blood donations , so I learned a little about it.
Tom

Tom, sounds like very interesting (but scary) work that you do. Not that the research itself is dangerous, but I'm sure it ups the realization about what viruses and bacteria are out and about and how they are transmitted -- ticks, mosquitoes, fleas, 'kissing bugs' (Chagas Disease) and who knows what else.

But, at some point, you just have to spritz on some insect repellent and go enjoy the outdoors.