The thought of a spider crawling on your bedroom wall might send a chill down your spine, and you are not the only one to fear them.
People scared of spiders run in every direction possible way when they encounter a spider and even try unique methods to scare them away. One such is shining light. But does this method really work?
Unfortunately, there is no single yes/no answer to this question; however, we will try to find some solution in this article.
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Are spiders attracted to light?
There is quite an easy process to determine this. The species of spiders that are drawn towards light are primarily active during the night. On the flip side, the active ones during the day are drawn towards light.
Some spiders might prefer light over darkness
As mentioned early, some spider species are most active during the day and prefer hunting in the sunlight. However, the number of these spiders is minimal and only limited to species with good vision. Those with poor vision prefer to hunt at night and avoid bright light as much as possible.
Spiders that hunt during the night, i.e., those with poor vision, have fewer eyes. The ones that have more eyes hunt during the day. Often diurnal spiders want to make use of the UV rays. Since these rays impact the silk that spiders produce, the ones that hunt during the morning use such beams to strengthen their silk, which in turn acts as a great defense system. The silk-producing gel of these types of spiders depends heavily on these rays.
Why are spiders attracted to light?
As mentioned, spiders are not the only insects attracted to light. Many insects depend on a bright light to live. However, while flying, most insects are not drawn towards the light as it confuses and affects their sense of direction.
Studies suggest that insects that move around at night have evolved and no longer depend on natural light sources. While earlier nocturnal creatures relied on stars and the moon for direction, the new age ones have become technologically advanced, so to say.
Though the dim light from the moon and stars provided some sense of direction to the poor visioned nocturnal spiders, they are pretty far from the spider’s POV, and thus they don’t move as much. However, they would use these lights as a travel guide to reach one place from another.
But with the advent of tech and artificial bright light, insects had a new problem to deal with. Lights, especially the outdoor ones, would pop every now and then, thereby impacting the hunting expedition of these insects. Owing to the presence of a bright light that’s much closer, they changed their movements.
Thus, as you can see, it’s the visual confusion resulting from bright lights that attract insects such as spiders towards them.
If you want to learn more about spider’s vision:
Are spiders attracted to extremely bright lights?
Some spiders are often attracted to very bright lights. If you have a strong lighting system handy, it might be convenient to attract spiders. For instance, if your porch light is powerful, you might see multiple types of insects and spiders gathered around it to bask in the glow.
Since many other insects like flies and mosquitoes are attracted to bright light, spiders follow them to catch in these spots, trap them in the web and have a nice meal.
A dim light in your bedroom will not attract such spiders. However, they can stay in dimly light places as well.
Do specific light colors attract spiders?
According to a study by the University of Cincinnati, specific species of spiders are attracted to color hues. For instance, wolf spiders are drawn towards the green of UV lights. This is because of their dichromatic vision.
In other words, though wolf spiders are color blind, they are sensitive towards green wavelengths. Any light with a short wavelength might attract these bugs, which further helps them see and navigate better. Thus wolf spiders are attracted to sunlight.
Does LED light draw spiders?
Spiders don’t get attracted to LED directly, but they are surely drawn to the bugs that fly around those lights. Spiders roam around LED light sources to hunt and watch their prey in most urban areas. Thus outdoor lights like string or floodlights attract spiders on a hunt for other small insects like moths, flies, and mosquitoes.
Thus, if you don’t want spiders lurking in your garden, you need to change the lights and use those that attract fewer bugs. Most bugs are less attracted to warm colored LED lights such as yellow-orange. You can also opt for solar-powered warm white outdoor lights to keep bugs at bay.
Spider evolution
Diurnal spiders are the ones that come out during the day. Some spiders took up a diurnal lifestyle from a nocturnal one with evolution. This resulted from a massive controlled change in their environment caused due to sunlight radiation.
Diurnal spiders are highly attracted to UV rays primarily as they move during the day. However, nocturnal spiders will rarely get affected by such UV light.
Thanks to UV lights emitted by the sun, diurnal spiders can weave better and more powerful webs that keep the prey trapped. The UV light also improves and strengthens the draglines of the spider, which leads to more substantial web creation.
Thus, it’s clear that the lifestyle change has benefited diurnal spiders primarily as they can now create mechanically more robust webs that can trap their prey.
If you want to Learn More about the Spider’s Evolution: Evolution of spiders
Will putting off the lights keep spiders away?
Many people will consider putting off the lights on discovering that the spiders are attracted to light. But this won’t be of any help as they will have to put off all lights in the house, and that is an impractical approach.
Thus, a feasible way to deal with spider infestation needs to be considered. One such is to do a treatment to eliminate them, like pest control of sorts. This is one of the most effective approaches, which involves seasoned professionals getting rid of the spiders.
DIY techniques such as sprays and spider traps are also helpful.
Conclusion
Spiders hunt both during the day and night. Primarily spiders are attracted to light since their food source is available near the area. Whatever may be the reason, it’s disturbing and often scary to find these creepy crawlers at your home. But you can get rid of them by checking your surroundings well and taking measures to keep them at bay. Stay tuned to theskilledgardener for more interesting article like this!
