Where do the bugs in light fixtures come from?

[Libre]

This is a question that has plagued me for eons. You have a burned out bulb in a ceiling light fixture, you go to change it, and there are always these tiny bugs inside the fixture. Even if it's one of those fixtures that have a glass bowl against the ceiling and are pretty sealed. How in the heck do those bugs get in there? How do they know they CAN get in there? Where do they come from?
I wonder if there is even a name for these things, or if they are an uncategorized species because nobody ever paid attention to them.
Maybe they are aliens from another planet and just look like bugs.
Incidentally, I had a burned out bulb today (as if you couldn't guess).
Yech - I hate those little critters. But at least they seem to leave people alone and only go into light fixtures to become little crispy burnt-up ULB's (unidentified light bugs).

 

[ConstantReader]

It's only a guess, but I would think that tiny flying insects, attracted by the light of the bulb, sometimes lay eggs on the bulb itself. The larvae - who would be microscopic in size I guess - can then squeeze into some tiny hold or gap in the bulb that we couldn't detect with the naked eye. Once in, the larvae can't figure out how to get back out - some of them hatch and then die of starvation, heat from the bulb etc.

Of course, that could be a load of rubbish.....but its just my theory

 

[MonkeyCatcher]

It's only a guess, but I would think that tiny flying insects, attracted by the light of the bulb, sometimes lay eggs on the bulb itself. The larvae - who would be microscopic in size I guess - can then squeeze into some tiny hold or gap in the bulb that we couldn't detect with the naked eye. Once in, the larvae can't figure out how to get back out - some of them hatch and then die of starvation, heat from the bulb etc.

I doubt that the bugs would lay eggs on the bulb - wouldn't they lay eggs near or on a food source so that the larvae will be able to eat?

 

[KristoCat]

Possible. I think that the bugs really do squeeze themselves in (you'd be surprised at how creatures can get into the smallest spaces if they really want to!). The question is, what attracts them? Is it just the light or the other bugs that have already gotten in?

 

[Libre]

Well, lots of organisms are phototactic. Maybe the heat also attracts them. I wonder if these creatures fill some ecological niche. Like, what did they do before there were light fixtures? Or have they evolved since? Doubtful. Maybe they just flew into fires like lots of other flying insects.

 

[ruby]

Flys and bugs are drawn to the light!
Thats why you get them in your light fixtures!

 

[Libre]

"Flys and bugs are drawn to the light!
Thats why you get them in your light fixtures!"

Yeah, I realize that. It just seems odd that they are always in there, even in sealed fixtures. But these things can get into anything, as was noted above.
In the fixture I replaced yesterday, there was a creepy crawly (technically known as a silverfish) which can't fly and was very much alive. That was, until I ended its existance. It must have travelled a long way - by foot (or feet) to get there. I could see its sillouette walking around in the fixture for some time before I got off my duff to do anything about it - and only then to change the bulb. I don't go out of my way to kill anything, but bugs are considered fair game if they are in my home.
I have an agreement with spiders, though. I leave them alone as long as they don't get too big.
When I was single, I had a pet spider - actually a wild one that I noticed in the corner of the kitchen in its web, and I just left it there. Think I named it "Svetlana". Even fed it roaches from time to time when I caught one in my kitchen - yes, this was a bachelor pad. My wife wouldn't be amenable to such entomological activities.

 

[Libre]

Hey ruby -
When you look at these tiny creatures close up, they look a little like your avatar! Their faces aren't so pretty, but other than that...

 

[ruby]

Hey ruby -
When you look at these tiny creatures close up, they look a little like your avatar! Their faces aren't so pretty, but other than that...

Lol You cheeky sod!

 

[Halo]

Think I named it "Svetlana".

Svetlana?!

 

[sirmyk]

Flying bugs are quite religious; they simply mistake lightbulbs for the afterlife.

I once read a poem about a moth heading for the light... very sad, but the moth was ready to die... and the moth was somewhat symbolic.