Roaches easily get inside your house through cracks and crevices.
They’re also attracted to light. Even if your baits and traps work effectively, you may still end up with a few roaches here and there.
When it’s dark, it’s much easier for these pests to find their way into your home. For this reason, you should make sure you’ve installed good lighting around your home.
So, are roaches attracted to light?
People often wonder if cockroaches are attracted to light.
The answer is yes, but only at certain times of the day. Most cockroaches are attracted to light when they wake up or after they’ve had a sleepless night.
However, some cockroaches prefer darkness and aren’t attracted to light at all.
Are Roaches Attracted to light?
Contents
They are active at night but prefer hiding during the day because sunlight is harmful to them.
Some species of roach can migrate by flying; others crawl on the ground or jump long distances between trees and other tall structures to find a suitable place to hide for the night.
Some species travel in swarms to avoid predators; some live in colonies with others of their kind; and some live alone in the wild.
When exposed to a light, cockroaches will run away from it.
The Asian Cockroach is an exception, however, as it will stay near the light even when it’s turned off.
Do Cockroaches Like Light?
Cockroaches are often active at night because they are nocturnal creatures, which means they are active during the night and sleep during the day.
This is mainly to protect them from predators like birds and snakes that hunt in the dark hours of the night.
For roach infestations to thrive, there must be enough food sources around for the pests to feed on.
As such, you must keep your kitchen clean at all times to eliminate food crumbs and other debris that may attract roaches to your home.
It must also be free from clutter as cockroaches often hide in dark areas when hiding from predators or when they are disturbed.
Except for the Asian Cockroach, which is largely considered to be a pest of restaurants, other types of roaches love to hide in dark areas like under sinks and cabinets as well as inside appliances such as refrigerators and dishwashers.
Other cockroach species are often terrified of light so keeping your kitchen well-lit can scare them away.
Cockroaches dislike both artificial and natural light, and this makes them easy to spot during the day.
Why Are Some Roaches Attracted to Light?
Cockroaches are attracted to light for a variety of reasons.
For example, many cockroaches are attracted to light because it’s one of their main sources of food.
When cockroaches are exposed to light, their eyes pick up its wavelengths and transmit that information to their brain.
The cockroach then locates the source of the light and tries to absorb it using its mouth parts. However, cockroaches aren’t just attracted to light because it’s food; they also absorb UV light for hygienic reasons.
When cockroaches are exposed to UV light, the UV kills most bacteria on their body, keeping them clean and healthy. So, cockroaches are attracted to light for nutritional and hygienic reasons.
Why Do Majority of the Roaches Hate the Light?
Roaches dislike light because they are nocturnal animals.
They prefer the darkness and spend more time in the dark than in the light. They are nocturnal because of evolutionary reasons.
They spent millions of years in the dark, so they’re more comfortable at night than during the day. Furthermore, roaches hate light because light disrupts their circadian rhythms.
However, roaches aren’t the only nocturnal animals. Bats and owls are also nocturnal.
Bats dislike light because it disrupts their natural habitats. Owls dislike light because their prey is nocturnal.
For example, owls usually hunt at night. If owls hunted during the day, their prey would learn to avoid owls.
This would greatly reduce owls’ hunting success. In nature, light is something that should be feared because of how disruptive it is to nocturnal animals.
Why Do Cockroaches Hide In Dark Places?
Cockroaches are a source of food for other animals such as snakes and birds.
They also like to hide in dark places for the same reason: safety from predators.
When you turn on the lights in your home, these pests are likely to hide away to protect themselves from being eaten by other predatory animals.
If they see or sense danger, they will run for cover and hide under objects such as furniture, clothes, boxes, toys, etc.
This is why it’s important to keep your home clean at all times so that these pests have nothing to hide under when they feel threatened.
They will spend the day napping in dark places like cabinets or under kitchen appliances.
If the cockroaches try to emerge during the day and the light is turned on, they will immediately seek shelter again to avoid being eaten by other animals.
As a result, they will be easy to find as they’ll all be hiding in the dark areas inside your home.
Spiders, frogs, shrews, mice, beetles, and other insects are other examples of animals that also dislike light and spend time in darkness whenever possible.
Lizards are their main predators, and they tend to hide when humans are around because they are scared of them.
Will Keeping Lights on Keep Roaches Away?
Many people believe that lighting can deter roaches from invading their home.
However, research does not support this idea. In fact, roaches are more likely to enter dark areas where they can see.
Furthermore, roaches are more active at night than during the day, so keeping the lights on won’t deter them from invading your home. Finally, keeping lights on won’t keep roaches away.
In fact, roaches can survive on very little light. Even though roaches are attracted to lights, they don’t actually need them to survive.
Thus, keeping the lights on won’t keep roaches away.
Also Read: Can Cockroaches Jump?
Final Words
In conclusion, roaches are attracted to light.
More specifically, roaches are attracted to ultraviolet (UV) light. UV light is invisible to the human eye, but it’s visible to roaches and other insects.
This makes them attracted to light sources. However, UV light only attracts roaches to light sources.
Using UV light to repel roaches won’t work because roaches can’t see UV light.
