Skeeter Beaters

By: Joe D'Agnese, This Old House magazine (Page 1 of 5)

Photo: Frontgate

To intercept mosquitos before they spot human prey, the new CO2 traps should be placed at least 30 feet away from places where people gather.

Mosquito Power Trap
How it works: Burns propane, producing CO₂, heat, and moisture. Also emits octenol. A fan draws mosquitoes into removable catch tray. A photocell timer can be set to turn the unit on and off automatically to coincide with peak feeding times, dusk and dawn.
Coverage: 1 acre
Height: 35 inches
Weight: 28 lbs. (68 lbs. with propane tank)
Price: About $550

Mosquito Magnet, Liberty model
How it works: Continuously burns propane, producing CO₂, heat, and moisture. Also emits octenol. Sucks mosquitoes through the white funnel into a net, where they dehydrate and die.
Coverage: ¾ acre
Height:32 inches
Weight: 25 lbs. (65 lbs. with propane tank)
Price: About $500 (models also available for about $300 and $1,300)

Photo: Laura Johansen

Dragonfly
How it works: Lures insects with CO₂ from a canister, octenol, and a heat source set to approximate body temperature. Bugs that fly into the unit are zapped with a jolt of electricity. Starting at dusk, prime mosquito feeding time, an electronic eye automatically turns the unit on for five hours. Comes with two portable, battery-powered units that disperse a chemical that jams mosquitoes' sense of smell and keeps them away from where you're sitting.
Coverage: 1 acre
Height: 48 inches
Weight: 31 lbs. (78 lbs. with CO₂ tank)
Price: About $900

Mosquito Deleto, backyard model, mosquito control

Mosquito Deleto, backyard model
How it works: Continuously burns propane, producing CO₂, heat, and moisture. Also emits octenol. Traps its victims on a sticky sheet. Smaller, portable model also available. Neither one needs electricity, and both come with a separate tabletop unit that disperses repellent to keep away stray skeeters.
Coverage: ½ acre
Height: 40 inches
Weight: 20 lbs. (60 lbs. with propane tank)
Price: About $200 ($170 for portable model)

Photo: N. Poritz

The SonicWeb mosquito trap (about $300) doesn't need a propane tank or CO₂ container. It emits a low-frequency sound that simulates a human heartbeat, warms up to 110 degrees, and spreads an octenol scent that attracts mosquitos within 100 feet. Then it traps them on sticky paper.

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In times past, homeowners dispatched mosquitoes with a well-aimed swat of the hand, or tried to banish them with a spritz of insect repellent and maybe a citronella candle.

Not anymore. As the risk of mosquito-borne illnesses such as West Nile virus and even malaria has spread to the United States, bug killing has become serious business. These days, there's a new weapon in the arsenal: high-tech traps that lure mosquitoes to their death by mimicking the breath, scent, and body heat of humans.

The chief chemical attractant is carbon dioxide, which we give off by breathing and which traps generate with a CO₂ canister or by burning propane. The burning propane also produces heat and water vapor, similar to human sweat. In addition, the traps emit octenol, an aroma that mosquitoes can't resist. When they draw near to investigate the plume of octenol-laced CO₂, they're either sucked into a net, become stuck to an adhesive pad, or are zapped by an electric charge. According to manufacturers, some of these devices are so effective that they can clear an area of up to an acre.

Safer Than Pesticides, Better Than Zappers

Compared with fogging a landscape with insecticides, these new traps are benign and nontoxic, harming only mosquitoes and other flying biters, such as blackflies and biting midges. And they're a quantum leap better than electric bug zappers that use light as an attractant, which are ineffective against mosquitoes. Tests in mosquito-infested areas show that a single CO₂ trap can nab as many as 1,500 bloodsuckers in one evening. "Those things do attract and kill a lot of mosquitoes — no question about it," says Jerome Goddard, Ph.D., a medical entomologist at the Mississippi Department of Health.

Whether that will keep you from getting bitten depends on how many mosquitoes are hatching in your vicinity. "What nobody knows is whether these traps cause the population to drop," says Goddard. "It could be like dipping a bucket of water out of the ocean." Because mosquito populations vary dramatically from day to day and even house to house, scientists say, it's tough to design a reliable test that shows which of these devices works best.