Roaches that react to red lights

V

varnon

Fourth Instar
I've noticed my orange heads react to my red flashlight, mostly when it is moving. They react much more strongly to a white light of course. Other species I have kept do not react to this light.

Has anyone noticed this with other species? I'll have to try some other red lights too. Perhaps this one just has a little bit of yellow in it.

 
Nearly all of my invertebrates will react to moving lights regardless of the color. But it could be related to the red itself, sometimes red filters don't remove all the visible wavelengths. Zoo Meds red bulbs for instance are red glass instead of red lacquer (except the spots I think) like the cheaper bulbs and typically aren't visible...but again, if I move the fixture they still react, albeit not much compared to white light. 

 
At least my Schizopilia fissicollis roaches do react when I shine a red light on them. If the light is static, they don't seem to mind. I have most of my roaches under red light at night (so I can watch them). Perhaps roaches to see red light dimly, and if it moves, they react to it. 

 
Interesting. For me, I have only noticed this with the orange heads, and maybe just the nymphs. It doesn't seem to matter for hissers, banana roaches, bees, wasps or anything else. But apparently it is a thing. It might be a filtering thing like vfox suggested, but maybe it is a mild sensitivity to red. I might have to get some high quality LEDs that emit a well defined range of colors and do some more tests. It would be cool to find out that some species are sensitive to it.

 
I have noticed the same thing in reverse: many nocturnal arthropods do not react to any kind of dim lights. With many of the poor-vision species, especially web spiders, even bright light fails to trigger a response; they often even continue obliviously chewing prey.

 
Hello,  This reminds me of something I heard once.  'Roaches can't see in red light'.  I'm now wondering if that is true and if it is which types?.  Oh a quick question of my own.  I have heard this bug called a Florida roach, a water bug, and a few other names.  My question is is it a roach or not?  The thing to insert an image does not seam to be working. 

 
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