June 2, 2025, 8:49 am | Read time: 2 minutes
In summer, insects are everywhere—both outdoors and sometimes inside homes. The catch is that while insects can easily find their way in, getting out proves to be a challenge. But why is that?
Whether it’s wasps, bees, flies, or mosquitoes—winged insects don’t hesitate to enter human homes in search of food. After all, there are some treats to be found there. However, finding their way back outside becomes a problem. The insects fly against the windowpane, even though the window is open. Why is that? After all, they managed to find their way into the house.
Insects Can’t Find the Way Out
When insects can’t find their way out through the window, it’s not due to a lack of intelligence. If they fly into a home through an open or tilted window, it’s often difficult for them to find their way back out. “They don’t realize the persistent effect of window and door glass,” explains Dr. Oliver Schmitz from the Entomological Society Orion Berlin in response to a query from myHOMEBOOK. They don’t understand that the glass is a barrier and keep flying against the pane.
Insects perceive time differently than humans. As reported by Focus, houseflies perceive 250 images per second—for comparison, humans perceive only about 60. Since flies capture significantly more individual images, everything appears to move much slower to them. This is why it’s so difficult to catch flies. The abundance of information leads to quick reactions and automated processes. Insects react reflexively to light. When they see light from outside, they instinctively fly toward it—repeatedly hitting the pane because they don’t understand it’s an obstacle.
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Why Do Insects Fly Into Homes?
“There are various reasons why insects fly into rooms,” the insect researcher told myHOMEBOOK. Some reasons are specific to certain insect species or groups. At dusk and night, light is particularly attractive: “Many insects are drawn to light sources and then don’t voluntarily return to the dark.”
Also interesting: 6 Common Mistakes That Attract Flies Into Homes
In the dark, insects not only have difficulty orienting themselves—dangers are also harder to perceive. But there are other reasons why homes are attractive to various insects: “Warmth, CO2 (such as with mosquitoes), and certain smells, like the perception of food,” Schmitz lists.