Role Of Led Lights In The Design Of Ultra-Violet Light Traps For House Fly Monitoring And Control

Abstract:
The light emitting diode (LED) lamp market is predicted to experience massive growth over the next decade. Outside the domestic lighting sector there are a number of specialist uses for LED technology that have warranted research into specific frequencies of light emission. Ultra-violet (UV-A waveband) LEDs are becoming powerful enough to offer a credible alternative light source to the fluorescent lamps currently used in ultra-violet light traps for the monitoring or control of flying insects in urban environments. Whilst there are significant energy savings to be made in employing this technology, other differences between LEDs and fluorescent lamps can be exploited to maximise their characteristics of light emission to catch flying insects. The hypothesis that an insect light trap using a UV-A LED luminaire can be as efficient at removing a known number flies from an environment as a light trap using fluorescent lamps is tested using common chasses with spectroscopy and replicated bioassays.