The Camp Lighting Report From AlphesBuilt from 600+ posts by Australian campers, 2004 to 2026
Camp lighting
Zappers, Citronella, Yellow Cellophane: Why None Of It Keeps The Moths Off The Camp Table (And The Old Bushie Trick That Does)
Moths and beetles fly to the brightest light in camp. Right now that light is hanging over dinner. Five things, in order, ending with the fix that kills nothing.
Alphes camp team4 min read
Eight thirty. The lantern goes on over the table, and by the time the sausages hit the plates the moths have found it.
One drops into the three year old's dinner. She pushes the plate away. Somebody eats with an arm curled over their plate like a roof, and somebody else says what everyone is thinking: let's just eat in the car.
One Aussie camper put family trips better than any brochure ever has:
"Most family trips don't go sideways because of anything dramatic. It's usually bad sleep, no shade, or a bunch of little annoyances stacking up."
Camper on r/Auscamping, May 2026
The moths are one of those annoyances, and they're the easiest one to fix. Not by fighting them. By giving them somewhere better to go. Five steps. Number four is the fix.
1
The moths aren't coming for dinner. They're coming for the lamp.
Moths, beetles and flying ants steer by the brightest point they can see. Not the warmest, not the yellowest. The brightest.
That's why the swarm turns up within minutes of the lamp going on, flies straight past the esky and the bin, and settles in a cloud over the table. Nothing on the plates is what they want. The light hanging next to the plates is.
You can watch it happen across New South Wales right now. The Bogong moths are back in swarms this spring, and Zoos Victoria's advice is to switch off outdoor lights, because artificial light lures them off their route.
"Whatever poisons you want to use, you're not going to stop vast quantities of bugs coming to a constant source of light."
Australian on r/AskAnAustralian, September 2026
Every flight path ends at the brightest point in view.
2
Zappers and citronella can't out-compete a lamp.
Everything in the bug aisle tries to kill or repel the swarm. The swarm isn't there for anyone at the table. It's there for the light, and the light is still on.
Citronella is a smell, and moths steer by light. Put a candle under a bright lamp and it becomes one more thing to land on.
"As it started to get dark we lit a citronella candle to help keep the bugs away. Talk about bees to a honey pot. The bugs were so thick on the candle that they nearly smothered it."
Camper on the ExplorOz forum
Zappers have the opposite problem. They're a weak light sitting next to a strong one, so most of the swarm flies straight past to the lamp. The few that go in die, and plenty of families would rather not have that on the table at dinner.
"used it for months and never saw it kill one bug yet."
Bug zapper owner on OzBargain
Mozzies are a separate fight. They follow breath and body heat, not light, so no lamp fixes them. Keep the coil or the spray for those.
3
Yellow helps. It just doesn't move the target.
Yellow cellophane, a yellow Chux, a can of yellow spray paint from Bunnings. Every one of them changes the colour of the bright point. None of them move it.
Warm and yellow light do pull fewer bugs than harsh white, and plenty of campers swear by it. But they give up half the light doing it, and while that lamp is still the brightest thing in the bush, the swarm keeps coming. Two Australian campers, years apart:
"if its the brightest thing for 20 miles they will still come for the yellow light"
Camper on an Australian camping forum
"Amber light is useless, Bugs and moths keep coming around amber."
Comment on an Australian camp light review
4
The old bushie fix: two lights, with the bright one six metres from the table.
Australian campers have been posting this trick since 2004. We found it described more than 30 times, on forums and in YouTube comments. Nobody gave it a name, so nobody sold it. Call it The Decoy Light Method.
The decoy
Up high, about six metres from the table, over bare ground. Cold white, full brightness, head tilted away from the chairs. Now it's the brightest thing in view, and nobody's sitting under it.
The table light
Low, on the table. Warm, turned down, facing straight down at the food. It lights plates and faces and throws almost nothing into the air, so it never competes.
Same moths. They just swarm over there.
Give it a few minutes after dark. Nothing gets sprayed and nothing gets killed. The swarm goes where it always goes, to the brightest point, and the brightest point is now over bare dirt. Dinner happens in peace the first night.
Three campers, three different years, the same trick:
"A good ol Flouro 15m or so away is as good an insect magnet as you can get. I carry one for this purpose."
ExplorOz forum, 2014
"Floody down the end of the verandah - yellow bulb at BBQ area... It DOES work... Looks like the Battle of Britain down at the Floody end..."
ExplorOz forum, 2010
"park it 10M away from your campsite and you'll have a bug free camp"
Most camp lights can't play either role. The one that does has to pass four tests.
Most camps already carry one bright light. The second light has to take whichever job is left, which means it has to be able to do both.
That's where most of what's in the back of the car falls over.
Stands on its own, six metres from the car.
Its own battery, no lead running back to the 12V socket.
Fails: the 12V strip off the car
Stays up when the wind comes through.
A wide base and ground spikes, not a light that tips the first time a gust hits it.
Fails: most cheap tripod lights"They get blown over SO EASY." Camper on a tripod light review
Cold white and warm in one body.
Hard white to be the decoy, warm and dim to be the table light.
Fails: the big flood kits, cold white only
Sits on the table, faces down, no flame.
Light on the plates instead of in everyone's eyes, and nothing burning at a toddler's eye level.
Fails: the gas lantern"one of our children burnt herself badly on it" Parent on ExplorOz, about a gas lantern
Passes all four
The Decoy Light
600 lumens of cold white to hold the swarm six metres out
Telescopes to 90 cm on a tripod with three ground spikes and a magnetic foot
White, natural and warm in one body, from 6500K down to 1800K
Flat head turns 180° to face straight down at the plates. 10,000 mAh, no lead, no flame
$119 AUDFree shipping
One light to pair with the bright light already in the car.
Want both jobs out of the box? The Decoy Kit is 2 lights for $187 AUD, $93.50 a light, and it comes with a FREE Halo Head Torch ($22.95) for the walk to the tent, so the decoy stays out on the dirt.
Two lights. Six metres apart. The moths over bare dirt, and the three year old finishing her dinner.
Summer is about twelve usable weekends, and the moths are worst on exactly the warm, still nights that make everyone want to eat outside. The fix is two lights and six metres of dirt, and it's set up in the time it takes the billy to boil.
Try it on the next trip. If the moths are still landing in dinner, or it's just not for you, email us within 60 nights and every dollar comes back. Keep the light.
