Paederus fuscipes Curtis is a nocturnal insect. The attractiveness of artificial
light sources from residential premises eventually causes the risk of severe dermatitis
effect, once Paederus is in contact with human skin. The objective of this study is to
investigate whether the light and height factors of residential buildings and its’ association
to rice cultivation phases are primary reasons for P. fuscipes’s mass dispersal into human
residential areas. The study site was located in residential premises that were built
adjacent to rice field areas (≈ 32–60 m and 164 m) north of the rice field located in Teluk
Air Tawar, mainland of Pulau Pinang. Overall, both light sources and rice cultivation
phases caused a significant effect for P. fuscipes beetles dispersal flight to invade human
settlements. More P. fuscipes were captured near the bright light source with the highest
number of beetles found during harvesting stage. Whereas, significantly higher number of
P. fuscipes were captured at level 2 and 3 compared to ground and level 1 of the
apartment building and P. fuscipes was also found significantly affected by the rice
cultivation phases at different elevation levels. This indicates that bright light sources and
higher elevation levels are the main factors in attracting P. fuscipes beetles to disperse
and causes infestations in residential areas. This finding could create awareness among
the public on P. fuscipes dispersal pattern.