Science Buddies: "Ask an Expert"

Is this a good science fair project question: Do yellow light bulbs attract less bugs than other light bulbs.

I think so...just make sure that you have these light bulbs in a controlled enviroment, and specify the type of bug. You'll also need to specify the word "attract." Will this mean the amount of bugs within an 'X' radius of the light, or the amount that actually land on the light?

What I would do: in a closed area--perhaps in an aquarium or a screened in porch-- release 'Z' number of bugs (moths or ladybugs, I assume?). Turn on the light and record observations at 5 or 10 minute intervals for how ever long you see fit. Again, make sure that you use the same number of these bugs in testing both white and yellow light. Interesting project; I'm interested in seeing your results.

Thank you for your advice. I truly appreciate it. I also have a few more questions about my project that I could use some help with.

Does it matter that all the light bulbs be the same wattage?
How many bulbs would be accurate for measure in the experiment?
Would I have to catch bugs for this experiment or just let them randomly come into the controlled enviroment?
Do I need to specify what kind of bugs I'm using in the expreiment? (e.g. flies, bettles)
If so, would the all bugs have to be the same species?(e.g. only Houseflies)
In order for the experiment to be accurate, would I have to run all the light bulbs I'm using at the same time?

Does it matter that all the light bulbs be the same wattage?
They should be the same wattage for each trial. You want to keep as many things the same at all times and only change one thing at a time. You need to decide what you want to change about the lightbulbs, whether it is brightness or color, or type of light bulb. But for each trial, you want to keep everything the same. For example, maybe you do a few trials with one type of bug with the same wattage, but then you do the same thing all over again with a different wattage.

How many bulbs would be accurate for measure in the experiment?
You should try to do as many trials as possible, but of course you are limited by time and money. I would try to do AT LEAST 5 trials for each type of lightbulb and bug combination you do. Lightbulbs last a pretty long time, so you might only need one for those 5 trials. Then you might try a few more types of wattages or colors or shapes and do 5 trials for each of those. So, it depends upon how many variables you have.


Would I have to catch bugs for this experiment or just let them randomly come into the controlled enviroment?
In order to make this as controlled as possible, I would get your own bugs and buy them. But, you might try doing the experiment outside and seeing what happens also.

Do I need to specify what kind of bugs I'm using in the expreiment? (e.g. flies, bettles)
Yes! You should also decide if you want to test multiple types of bugs (not all together though, separately). You could even measure how long it takes for each type of bug to get a certain distance from the light, and then guess why some are faster than others.

If so, would the all bugs have to be the same species?(e.g. only Houseflies)
You would want to test the same species of bugs for a set of trials. This makes the process easier to control. If certain bugs sense light better than others, it might mess up your results if they are all together. To be thorough, and if you have time, you might try and see what happens if they are all together though.

In order for the experiment to be accurate, would I have to run all the light bulbs I'm using at the same time?
This would be very difficult to do! As long as the light outside (ie the light from the moon or houses), is pretty much the same, that should be fine. You would wear yourself out if you had to take notes for all the lightbulbs! So don't worry about this, just try and keep the outside light sources relatively constant.


Hope that helps!

Thank you Amber I really appreciate your help. But I was wondering what you meant in the 2nd question I asked you (does it matter that all the light bulbs be the same wattage) when you said "do AT LEAST 5 trials for each type of lightbulb and bug combination you do." And can you tell me if it's ok to use as many as 3 different light bulbs, including the yellow light bulb, with the same wattage and 3 different types of bugs for each lightbulb and bug combination. And do you know of any places where I can buy bugs.

Alive bugs I mean.

Hi Iago,
I have one thought about the wattage issue - We tend to think of wattage as being proportional to brightness, but, in reality, two bulbs with the same wattage can emit different amounts of light, especially if one bulb has a semi-opaque coating to filter out certain colors. If you really want to nail down this issue, perhaps you could use a light-meter to measure the light output of the bulbs.
I'm interested to hear more.
Chris

Thanks Chris. I was wondering if I could still use the same bulbs even if they have different amounts of lumens but the same amount of same amount of watts and still get the result at the end of my experement.

Here is a site that you can buy ladybugs. http://www.carolina.com/product/living+ ... estMatches

Here are some luna moths... http://www.carolina.com/product/living+ ... estMatches

And some white cabbage butterfly eggs... http://www.carolina.com/product/living+ ... estMatches

I cannot find any site that offers live houseflies--I'll be sure to post if I do find one, though.

Good Luck!

Thank you again Bbrooke.

iago56iago48 wrote:Thank you Amber I really appreciate your help. But I was wondering what you meant in the 2nd question I asked you (does it matter that all the light bulbs be the same wattage) when you said "do AT LEAST 5 trials for each type of lightbulb and bug combination you do." And can you tell me if it's ok to use as many as 3 different light bulbs, including the yellow light bulb, with the same wattage and 3 different types of bugs for each lightbulb and bug combination. And do you know of any places where I can buy bugs.

This should be fine. Bbrooke makes an excellent point about wattage and type of bulb. I wouldn't think that two lightbulbs of the same type with the same wattage would have a big difference in illumination, so you don't need to use only one lightbulb for all the trials, just be consistent with the type and wattage you use. To hopefully explain what I meant better, here would be an example if you used 3 different lightbulbs and 3 different types of bugs (when you say "different bulbs" I'm assuming you mean completely different, like opaque vs. clear, or a different color for example, and not just a different lightbulb that is the same as the others).

So, let's suppose you tried different colors for your three lightbulbs (they all have the same wattage):
(This example is pretty simple but it gives you a good idea of what I'm trying to say)

Bulb A (Yellow)
-5 trials with Bug A
-5 trials with Bug B
-5 trials with Bug C

Bulb B (Green)
-5 trials with Bug A
-5 trials with Bug B
-5 trials with Bug C

Bulb C (Red)
-5 trials with Bug A
-5 trials with Bug B
-5 trials with Bug C

For each trial, you might see how many bugs enter a certain radius around the lightbulb in a certain amount of time. If you are short on time in doing the project, you should do at least 3 trials. The more the better though, which is why I think 5 is a good number.

If you wanted to change the wattage of the bulb, you would want to keep the color constant (you might have Bulb D (Wattage 1) and 5 trials for each type of bugs, then Bulb E (Wattage 2) and 5 trials for each one. The main thing here is to keep all variables constant except for one. In the case above, you changing two variables total, but only one at a time. When you change the type of bugs, the type of lightbulb and wattage are kept constant, when you change the lightbulb the type of bugs are kept the same overall.

I hope this is clearer.

Thank you for clearing that up for me Amber.

I did a little more research and found that two bulbs with different colors and the same wattage do emit very different amounts of light. For example a 100 watt "bug light" emits approx 900 lumens, while a 100 watt white bulb emits 1710 lumens:

http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProduc ... ug%20Light
http://genet.gelighting.com/LightProduc ... e_Standard

If you want to test the effects of color, you should find two bulbs with different color and the same light emission, or use a semi-opaque filter on the white bulb to reduce the light intensity.

An alternative method to do this experiment would be to use a computer screen to display different colors. This would give you a lot more flexibility with the hue and intensity of colors.