Does Daylight Savings Affect Pests?

Does Daylight Savings Affect Pests?

This week begins the annual tradition of every person and animal trying to get as much rest as possible to make up for yesterday’s lost hour, but are still more tired than usual for a few days. “Spring forward” is a term that is more fun-sounding than it actually is, which became apparent once again when we set our clocks forward an hour last Saturday night. We know how daylight savings time affects humans and pets (especially when it comes to the typical feeding times), but does this change affect common pests as well? 

The animal kingdom behaves primarily in accordance to three factors: predators, resources, and weather. They operate on instinct and tend to not venture out of hiding if there are signs of predators nearby or if the weather conditions make it dangerous. Plus, animals like to live close  to their favorite foods, so they typically will not make their home miles away from a reliable source. Insects and rodents all operate under these guidelines, even when they are in the middle of a neighborhood. Since they don’t have their own alarm clocks (to our knowledge), pests are active relative to the sun, favoring either the sunlight of the day or the darkness of the night. Daylight savings may have an effect on their routines either way, but we will discuss the truth behind that in a little bit. 

Buggy Origins

Before we get into the specifics of pests and daylight savings, it is worth noting that the origins of this tradition actually have more to do with insects than we ever thought possible! In 1895, entomologist George V. Hudson had a proposal that was well ahead of its time for those in power. He wanted more time for hunting and collecting bugs – his favorite past time – and therefore proposed that everyone shifts their clocks forward two hours to have more hours of sunlight. But the Royal Society of New Zealand rejected the idea as unnecessary, and many sources say that daylight savings did not become an official practice until 1916, when Germany implemented the tradition during World War I. The U.S. started observing it in 1918, and the Uniform Time Act in 1966 made this tradition mandatory for all states besides Hawaii and Arizona. The idea behind its official integration was to save energy during the war, but who would’ve thought that this all began because someone wanted more time for his bug-centric hobby? 

Insects

This category of pest is much more varied in their daily routines than rodents or arachnids. Some are nocturnal and only emerge from their habitats under the cover of darkness, while others have the same hours of operation as a typical business. But all insects are invertebrates and therefore ectothermic, or cold-blooded. Ectothermic critters are completely dependent on the temperature for their energy levels. This is why insects are most active in the heat and humidity, and least active in the cold. In general, there is not much available research on how springing forward an hour affects insects. This could be because daylight savings coincides with the end of winter and beginning of spring. Insects are already beginning to resume their activity in these pre-spring days, so daylight savings does not seem to necessarily affect their routines.

After hiding throughout the winter, insects emerge to search for food once the weather consistently warms up. They may start their day later – due to the early morning darkness – until the daylight arrives earlier in the morning. And when the daylight extends later in the day, especially on warmer days, insects can be active later into the evening than usual. The months after daylight savings begins are the most active times for this group. The combination of longer sunlight hours, consistently warm temperatures, and blooming flowers makes for active pests. Longer daylight hours may correlate with more insects, but it does not appear to be a direct cause due to the prevalence of other factors. 

The general state of the weather also has an impact on the lives of insects. More warmth and mild weather allows insects to have longer periods of reproduction, which results in larger insect populations than before. Early spring is when eusocial insects start forming new colonies through the queen’s constant egg-laying, and they can lay more eggs with more daylight. Termites, bees, and mosquitos all thrive in warm weather and begin to hit their stride in spring. The spring rain can also affect insect activity, whether it’s too much or too little rain. Even the conditions of the winter season that is ending will affect insects, as a mild winter tends to result in more insects that are active even earlier. The only clear way that insects are affected by daylight savings is that their predators can be thrown off by the change more than the insects. Birds are one of the most frequent insect predators, and they can be out of sync with the daylight for a few days after daylight savings begins. The insects better enjoy this brief interruption in the birds’ morning routine, since the following mornings will be filled with birds chirping and searching for tasty insects to devour. 

Rodents

Rats and mice stick to their habits more than insects do, and therefore seem to be more affected by daylight savings in general. Firstly, these rodents are nocturnal, so they are the most active at night anyway. They try to avoid the light as much as possible, so more hours of daylight can cause the rodents to go even further into hiding. This time of year is also the start of turning the home’s interior lights on later in the day, hence the whole purpose of this practice. Rats and mice avoid artificial lights as much as possible, so they may adjust their natural schedule to oppose ours if they invade a house. For example, the times when we go to work and are generally busy can be when the rodents are resting, and vice versa.

Speaking of routines, a rodent invasion may go unnoticed for longer during this time of year since we are much busier. With outdoor activities and multiple plans happening on top of the typical work and school schedules, people are not relaxing in their homes as much as we do in the winter. This gives rodents more opportunities to venture out from their hidden nests to forage and thereby contaminate any of our food that they touch. After daylight savings begins, they may also leave their nests more often due to the additional daylight. Homes naturally warm up when the sunlight is beaming through the windows and glass doors, which then generates warmth deep into the house’s rooms and walls. If rats and mice are nesting in a wall void – which they are often prone to do – they may get too warm in their nests and need to find a new home. 

So, in general, the concept of “causation does not equal correlation” fits perfectly when it comes to daylight savings and rodents. They may leave their nests more often and have more varied times of activity, but it is not necessarily due to shifting the clocks an hour forward. This concept applies to pests in general, no matter the species. Many pests are the most active in warm weather, so they would be busy foraging and invading homes in the spring and summer anyway. While humans are coping with losing an hour of sleep, pests seem to be functioning as usual.

Enjoy the Extended Daylight, Thanks to Pointe! 

Once our sleep schedules adjust to this time change, we can all finally appreciate the extra hours of daylight that will be upon us this spring and summer. But with more daylight comes more annoying pests, especially the ones that love our food and invade our outdoor gatherings. No matter the season or hours of daylight in one day, Pointe Pest Control is here to solve your pest problems! We provide both preventative and responsive pest treatments, depending on the situation, and create a custom treatment plan for each client. We believe that pest control is not “one-size-fits-all,” which is why our team starts each visit with a careful inspection of the property in order to properly address each pest situation. If you want to enjoy a pest-free spring, contact us for a free quote on our environmentally friendly services today!

Citations

Daylight saving: it’s a change for wildlife, too. (2020, March 3). The Fur-Bearers. Retrieved February 16, 2023, from https://thefurbearers.com/blog/daylight-saving-it-s-a-change-for-wildlife-too/ 

Ghatas, A. (2021, March 21). How bug hunting led to daylight saving time. Los Angeles Times – High School Insider. Available at https://highschool.latimes.com/fountain-valley-high-school/how-bug-hunting-led-to-daylight-saving-time/ (Accessed on February 13, 2023).

Spring weather and how it affects insect activity. (2019, March 25). U.S. Pest Protection. Retrieved February 13, 2023, from https://uspest.com/blog/spring-weather-insect-activity/ 

Stromberg, J. (2015, November 1). It’s time to make daylight saving time year-round. Vox. Available at https://www.vox.com/2015/11/1/9640018/daylight-saving-time-year-round (Accessed on February 13, 2023).