There is a bit of research like https://parasitesandvectors.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s13071-019-3673-7 https://www.nature.com/articles/srep40074 and others all seem reasonable and indicate that light can attract mozzies. As you say and as well as my experience so far, these devices have not been good, hence my question.
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I mostly use zappers in the house not outdoors. They clean up midges and beetles that get in. Mozzies are the exception and oh so annoying at night when trying to sleep.
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Does anyone know of a good Mosquito Trap - not zapper as I understand most donāt work.
I may be able to get most of our town on the Gippsland Lakes to install traps if they can DIY build them.
Iām currently building a list of everyone working on Ross River Fever in (councils, health services, research etc) and hope to contact them as well. If they have any adavic I will share it.
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There are many onlineā¦this one from a more reputable source. .(pdf file)
https://www.albany.wa.gov.au/documents/265/homemade-mosquito-trap
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thanks PHB,
Looks good
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What would be the point? If your trap get 10,000 what about the other 10,000,000?
The whole town is interested in setting traps. Besides we told the mozzies to head over to your place - Not sure if that got through to the critters or indeed is in the spirit of Syncretic!
I have no idea what that means. I ask a serious question - in what way does removing a tiny proportion of the offenders improve your health or life?
Given a choice between a trap and a nice warm blood filled human? Traps might reduce the risk. They do not remove it.
Having lived in the tropical north and now wet coastal south of Qld. The best defence against Ross River etc is to not get bitten. Traps will not eliminate the risk. It may be less?
Common sense says to always cover up when outdoors, wear repellant, and ensure the house is screened.
Despite all these steps I get bitten several times each week. Enough said. You canāt beat nature. Mosquitoes have survived hundreds of millions if years.
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I get the feeling the idea is not total elimination but is reduction of the critters in the living area of the town. Mozzie trap sites that reduce risk in the local area of the town, but leaving the larger surrounding area still well endowed with mozzie populations. Nothing wrong with risk reduction I feel, as long as there is no illusion that it will totally remove the problem or the risk.
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Has this ever been measured or is there an assumption that if there are bodies in the trap therefore there is a significant reduction?
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After noticing how ineffective UV zappers are (i live in a mosquiito ridden area of Sydney), i researched as best i could, and ended up purchasing a Bantix mosquito slayer product. It did not work for me at all, despite following all the guidance. If you look at productreview.com.au, the product gets either very high or very low ratings, so maybe it works very well for certain strains of mosquitoes. But on my experience in my location, i canāt recommend it.
This product uses CO2 and scent and lights, and is expensive to buy as well as ongoing consumables.
From https://www.mosquito.org/general/custom.asp?page=traps
āPlease be cautioned against putting too much faith in traps as your sole means of control. These traps represent an evolving technology that is a most welcome addition to our mosquito control armamentarium. Their potential is great, but shouldnāt be overestimated. It is unclear whether the traps attract mosquitoes into an area where humans may then provide a stronger source of attraction. In other words, will the bug zapper results showing larger numbers of mosquitoes in yards with a zapper be repeated by the CO2 traps? Time will tell. Itās highly unlikely that these devices, whatever their improvements, will ever fully supplant organized community-wide mosquito control programs, for there is no single silver bullet that will prove to be the ultimate answer to mosquito problems. Effective mosquito management requires integrating a variety of available control strategies i.e. surveillance, source reduction, biological control methods, traps, environmentally friendly larvicides, and, when necessary, application of public health adulticides, into a comprehensive program that exploits known mosquito vulnerabilities. They are the result of almost one hundred years of experience in making mosquito control in the United States the safest and most technically proficient in the world todayā
From the Singapore Govt
Some other research
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-80618-1
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10.1111/j.1948-7134.2012.00208.x
A Wikipedia article on Mosquito Control
Most show limited application but can be part of an combined program of control.
One attractant in a plastic bottle that proved effective in certain cases was brown sugar and yeast in solution, this produced CO2 that attracted the mosquitoes, trap effectiveness decreased sharply after day 16 of the non refreshed solution. However it was still of a limited value on itās own as a means to control populations.
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It may be worth trialing traps in a number of different locations around the house or yard. Testing the traps where mosquitoes tend to congregate in the largest numbers.
We find mosquitoes donāt travel in numbers across the mowed lawn (night or day) to the house. The house is set up off the ground with lots of open verandahs. Itās a good 15-20m buzz in the open. They donāt seem to be attracted in any greater numbers by the light at night.
Some mosquitoes do tend to migrate to the back door (2 or 3) which is more shaded, cooler and darker than other places to settle. They also like the outside carport for some reason.
Other favourites are around mango trees, or any dense spreading tree that encourages leaf mulch and moisture.
P.S.
We consider a steady swarm of 5-10 per victim normal when out in the yard. They receive reinforcements as quick as you can swat them. Itās much worse once you start disturbing the ground or any foliage. Yard = melaleuca, acacia and gum regrowth forest, a riparian zone, patches of temporary wet land and a small dam. When itās been wet for a while the fish from the dam spread out and seem to be the best control. One of the worst areas around the block had no nearby free water (300+m to nearest most of the year). Itās slightly elevated, shaded most of the day with the best cooling breezes. Itās why it may be worthwhile looking around your area to identify any pattern to movement or location. They also love house gutters full of leaves or that are not cleaned and collect water.
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Researchers discover why Catnip deters mosquitoes.
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There are many onlineā¦this one from a more reputable source. .(pdf file) https://www.albany.wa.gov.au/documents/265/homemade-mosquito-trap
Has anyone tried these? Looks similar to this product from Pestrol, claims ā99% effective in reducing mosquito populationsā, but that is a bit meaningless as one dead mosquito equals a reduction in mosquito population!
I note that the recommend not emptying the water, just topping it up as required, because the mozzies apparently prefer stagnant water.
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I use these types of DIY traps. I use two 3 litre milk containers; cut the tapered part off one for the funnel, cut the neck off the other, screw the funnel into the neck, fix with black tape, spray the outside with black paint.
I brew up (approx) two cups of warm water, 2 heaped tablespoons of dark brown sugar (can use white ā¦ its is for the yeast to eat), two teaspoons of yeast (my old out of date stuff), small drop of dishwashing detergent (they drown). Put where mosquitoes are active, out of wind, preferably in shade. It starts working same day. I just top up.
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Iāve found the best mosquito and sandfly repellent to be made by the āLocalsā in WA. It is all natural, no deet, and is also effective in stopping the itch if you have forgotten to apply it before heading outside. I can only buying it online.
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Some bad news if North American and Australian mosquitoes are similar.
A pot of catnip or mint (peppermintā¦ must get more) works well. I just read about this the other day and realised then why the previous owners had mint planted everywhere. One of my garden people āweededā it out for me (!!!) years ago and IIRC thats when my mozzie problem became intolerable.
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