Mosquito magnet -- does it work?

[sickstan]

I heard of mosquito magnet and similar devices that run on propane or a mix of propane and electricity, putting off water vapor, CO2, and "octenol" that attracts female mosquitos to within range of a trap that sucks them into a net. Has anyone seen whether or not these work? Not that I care, since I'm gonna move to the desert soon, but just curious.

 

[bug_girl]

yes. these DO actually work. mosquitoes are attracted to CO2 when you respire. this is one of the only mosquito traps that does work.

Bogus methods include:
bug zappers
ultrasound repellers
citronella
wrist bands

edited to add:
http://www.mosquito.org/MosqInfo/Traps.htm
mosquito control association data

 

[ca3799]

Those things were covered in Consumer Reports recently. I don't recall exactly what was said, but I think CR reported that they do work somewhat, but were expensive to run as they needed to be run pretty much continuously to be very effective.

 

[bug_girl]

yes. that's pretty much what the mosquito control association said. i don't think they are within reach of most homeowners. (well, not me anyway )

 

[Zep]

Invite me. Mosquitos seem to come from neighbouring countries just to visit me, and will leave everyone else alone. Everyone else hardly gets touched - I look like I'm growing insects on me.

Maybe I ooze CO₂ from my skin...

 

[bug_girl]

or you have smelly feet. that also seems to be of interest to mozzies. (lactic acid secretion)

 

[Zep]

or you have smelly feet. that also seems to be of interest to mozzies. (lactic acid secretion)

SSSSSSHHH!!! Geeez...some things are personal, y'know?

 

[BillHoyt]

Invite me. Mosquitos seem to come from neighbouring countries just to visit me, and will leave everyone else alone. Everyone else hardly gets touched - I look like I'm growing insects on me.

Maybe I ooze CO₂ from my skin...

I commend to you the Mosquito Magnet then. I've been using them for some years now. I recently moved into an area absolutely surrounded by wetlands. In the early spring you couldn't walk to the car without swarms surrounding you. By mid summer, it was possible to go outside at night without much hassle.

I'm not sure what CR's problem with the cost is. You run about a tank of propane per month, and a few octenol packs a year. I let the bagged bugs dry out, and then empty and wash them. That saves bag replacement cost. I run two of them on my property. There were thousands in each of two bags every few weeks early last year. In the fall, it took weeks to collect a handful. I'm sure the male mozzies are pretty buzzed off to watch all the females get wiped off the face of their world.

 

[whitefork]

Attract some bats. They're a fine answer to the mosquito problem. Cheap and fun to watch. Try putting up a bat house or two in addition to the machine.

 

[BillHoyt]

Attract some bats. They're a fine answer to the mosquito problem. Cheap and fun to watch. Try putting up a bat house or two in addition to the machine.

Bats do a great job keeping the mozzies down, but I'm afraid I'm making one great big crop circle in their farm. I had at least one mating pair in my garage, but I think they've gone onto where the food supply is better. The population decline was dramatic once I put those two puppies into action. My dogs used to enter the house carrying almost a dozen mozzies apiece. They looked like mozzie aircraft carriers. By late summer, there were almost none on them.

 

[bug_girl]

i hate to tell you this, but bat houses do not seem to be useful for attracting bats. bats like a MUCH bigger structure--there was a paper about this a while back, which i (of course) can't find now. you also need a fair number of bats to get the sort of results you want. -i- really think bats are cool, but most people don't like that many of them about.

also, butterfly houses, ladybug houses.....not of interest to anyone but retailers.

 

[whitefork]

Must be "bath houses" I'm thinking of then. They attract all sorts of wildlife too.
We did start off with a number of resident bats, and they've stayed around for years now, so maybe if you want bats you need to breed mosquitos. But that seems misguided somehow.

 

[Agammamon]

. . . Not that I care, since I'm gonna move to the desert soon, but just curious. . .

Depends which desert you plan on living in but in the SW US evaporative coolers are a good place to breed mosquitoes. Pumps 'em straight into the house too.

 

[Dragonrock]

or you have smelly feet. that also seems to be of interest to mozzies. (lactic acid secretion)

Have there been studies to show if some people attract more skeeters than others? I seem to be a mosquito feeder. I even tried the boy scout remedy which was eating enormous amounts of garlic. Supposedly the garlic smell drives the little buggers away.

 

[Ralph]

While were on the subject............does repeated exposure to mosquitoes result in one becoming immune to the bites?

I've been hiking in the same area for close to 20 years now. The mosquitoes come out in force sometime in May. I get bitten extensively---but it doesn't even raise a welt. It almost seems like I've become immune to the locals due to frequent exposure.

If I go to another area though---where I'm not used to the local population-----I'll get the usual itchy welt from the little bastards..............????

 

[bug_girl]

Have there been studies to show if some people attract more skeeters than others? I seem to be a mosquito feeder. I even tried the boy scout remedy which was eating enormous amounts of garlic. Supposedly the garlic smell drives the little buggers away.

yes, and so far all they have come up with is that there are individual differences, but they aren't clear what they are, other than a weak relationship with smelly feet/b.o.
garlic and vitamin b are not effective at repelling mosquitoes.

 

[BillHoyt]

I'll get the usual itchy welt from the little bastards..............????

Actually, the little bast**** only bother plants. The little bit**** give you the welts.