apartment therapy changing the world, one room at a time

If you just need to get rid of mosquitoes for a party or something, big fans totally work. Mosquitoes are weak pilots. If it's at all windy, they'll leave you alone. Ceiling fans on the back porch are key.

I don't have any personal experience with mosquito traps but this article from Science Daily reinforces the notion that a mosquito trap alone won't rid you of your mosquito problem.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2005/06/050607013042.htm

As with most home issues prevention is the best bet. Here are some more tips.
http://www.mosquitobuzz.com/control/mosquitoprevention.html

And I'll tell you why I voted no...

The reason they attract mosquitos in the first place is their production of CO2, which emulates animals exhaling. They do indeed attract mosquitos, and kill them, but they produce CO2, which we should all be cutting back on anyway.

They also tend to attract them from farther away, which doesn't really solve your problem.

Reducing their breeding grounds when possible, encouraging mosquito feeding animals and insects to live in your area, and a few citronellas (which are attractive lights as well) tend to solve most problems... I think so anyway.

Around here (the South), people and businesses are using a derivative of the Chrysanthemum (Pyrethrum) to control mosquitos--it's a mist that gets sprayed twice a day. Patio dining would be impossible without it. one commercial brand/service is http://www.buzzoffmosquito.com

My parents had two at their marshy, mosquito-heaven house and they worked really well. Until they stopped working altogether. The company took them back and sent new ones. And they stopped working too. The woman at the UPS store said people had been returning them all summer.

This was last year, so perhaps they have fixed this problem since then. (I just had to hold myself back from saying "perhaps they have worked the bugs out". heh. said it anyway...)

We live in interior Alaska - mosquito heaven in the summer.If you don't have a mosquito trap in your yard up here, you're simply unable to sit in your backyard. Yes, you get a few bites here and there, but it is much more preferable than being driven mad by insects.

Great article in This Old House on this -

http://jcgi.pathfinder.com/toh/print/0,17071,457950,00.html

We definately need one of these -- we have a lovely garden, but the dense vegetation of ours and our neighbours' gardens is prime mosquito territory (especially the cedar hedges).

One of these was "included" with our house when we bought it...we found it completely useless. It just never seemed to work.

My girlfriend's parents have one in their back yard and it works wonderfully.

I have one of these in my East Village studio. It is really awesome!


Seriously, isn't this APARTMENTtherapy.com? WTF is this doing here?

I live in Alaska, with a plethora of the little devils surrounding my cabin, yet this device only killed 30 or so within two weeks. never bothered to renew the bait after that. Waste of a good propane tank better used on BBQs! Elecrical bug zappers work better, except you need darkness at night, which we're short of in the summer!

I live in the woods and got one this year. There are NO mosquitoes in my yard. I'm not kidding, I have not seen ANY, and this is a place where you either screen or stay inside.

I have been running it since Memorial Day and replacing the propane and attractant religiously.

Also, they produce a minor amount of CO2. I did some research and found that most reviews say that the amount of CO2 produced isn't enough to have a serious environmental impact, especially in areas where the alternative would be spraying pesticides from the air or ground. Commentators at Treehugger.com and WorldChanging.com say that preventing the spread of diseases like West Nile outweighs the small amount of CO2 production. You could also help minimize the effect of emissions by planting additional trees and plants in your yard (plants absorb CO2).

Thanks for the info Pete -

I bought one for my childs preschool and in about 3 weeks all mosquitoes were destroyed, this product really does work well. I am going to use one in my own yard next season and see if it can do a better job that the dragion flies. :)

The traps are fantastic when used and maintained properly. They have certainly made our summers much more enjoyable. We never used to be able to entertain outside after dusk, and now we can pretty much party the night away outside without getting bitten. Plus, it's great to know our dogs aren't at risk either.

I've used one for 2 season now, it works great. Before I installed it we couldn't eat out doors in the eveing. I also recommended one to a friend and he also loves it.