Propane-powered Mosquito Traps: What's the deal? Do they work?

[Michael B]

Still working on those "people skills", I see.

[willshak]

on 8/15/2009 10:45 AM (ET) Yard Guy wrote the following:

The best mosquito killers are Bats. Build some Bat houses around your yard. Bats require no electricity, chemicals, devices,or other man made objects, other than the bat house, to eliminate mosquitoes and other insects, .

[Yard Guy]

While I've got nothing against bats, and wouldn't mind if there were some around my place (I don't think there are any), I can't believe that a mosquito is large enough to have an acoustic profile that would result in it reflecting enough sound back to a bat to allow for echo location.

Or that there are enough calories in a mosquito to be worth the effort.

In other words, while I can believe that bats can detect, and eat, a lot of flying insects (moths, etc) I simply don't believe that mosquitoes form any significant portion of their diet.

[Chas Hurst]

That's just plain ignorance. Bats eat lots of mosquitoes, and it doesn't matter what portion of the bats diet mosquitoes make.

[Art Todesco]

When I lived in the Chicago area, a local TV station did a test of various mosquito units. As I recall, they found these units to work real well. On the down side, they were expensive and expensive to run. They found that the bug zappers not to do as well (I'm digging this out from about 3 years ago, so it might not be real accurate). Also, the one thing I remember is that products like "Bug Free Backyard" work almost as well and are very cheap comparatively. You do have to apply them every 3 weeks or so. I've used this stuff in the Chicago suburbs and have been very happy with the results .... probably poisoning me and everything around me.

[Yard Guy]

A bat that eats one mosquito per night would not it a good reason to try to attract bats to my back yard.

And you didn't respond to my comment that I question if a mosquito is large enough to be detectible to the echo-location mechanism that bats use to locate and consume their flying food items at night.

[Yard Guy]

Am I to assume that there is a debate regarding these propane-powered traps, and if by the sake of their operation they end up attracting more mosquitoes to an area than would ordinarily be there in the first place, and that they may not capture these excess mosquitoes, thereby making the mosquito problem worse for the backyard the unit is located in?

[Chas Hurst]

"A single bat can swallow 600 to 1,000 mosquitoes an hour, depending on the bat species. An individual bat feeds for an hour or so at dusk and retreats to its home site to rest. A second feeding may take place near dawn. With about 100 small brown bats in a typical single colony, a lot of mosquitoes can disappear in a single night. "

[Rod Speed]

Not that so much as many cant seem to grasp that by their nature they are going to be quite dependant on the wind.

With that sort of variable, its not surprising that few can really grasp the basics of when they work well and when they dont.

The other complication is that counterflow traps work a lot better that traps that dont have counterflow as well as the propane.

That wouldnt matter if they then trap the mosquitos effectively.

They should do that if they are well designed.

There is no evidence of that. Like with anything tho, some work better than others.

[Rod Speed]

Yard Guy wrote

It clearly must be when its known that bats eat huge numbers of mosquitos in a single sitting.

And that is trivial to prove by killing the bats and examining their stomach contents.

[Rod Speed]

Thats not surprising given that many in mosquito infested areas find that they dont see any mosquitos inside the house while the lights are on in the evening, and get them zooming around you in bed with the lights off.

They clearly do prefer the dark.

It would be interesting to see if part of the reason for the variable results some get with propane traps is just whether they are located where its dark and where its not.

Yeah, the maintenance man at one place I worked at believed in those and applied them when there was a big outside barbeque at work in the evening. This is in an irrigation area where the mosquitos have 6 engines. Worked very well.

[Jon Danniken]

If it weren't for people QUOTING HIM, people like me would have forgotten about him a long time ago.

Jon

[robb]

big-box

any of them

remember

Magnet.

My limited experience with the controversy stems from the many factors that influence the effectiveness of the traps (prevailing wind, landscaping, etc.)

I maintain 2 Liberty Plus / Mosquito Magnets (cordless 1 acre version) for three years now.

One for me (mine) and one for in-laws (theirs).

After many attempts to find optimal locations by moving the traps around the two properties my results are as follows.

Mine is very effective, catching lots of mosquitos and a noticeable reduction in mosquito troubles. Theirs is not effective, catching relatively few and having continual mosquito troubles.

Mine is on the edge/corner of the yard at the top of a sloping open lawn with bushes around the perimeter and away from the house.

Theirs is at the edge of a heavily wooded lot with sloping hill, a creek nearby, rock outcrops, oddly shaped yard and open space/patio bordered by low thick bushes.

When i purchased my traps the hardware guy offered me an annecdote about how one year there was a run on their mosquito trap inventory. The traps were returned in droves with the primary complaint being they made the mosquito problem worse. When he asked about the location of the mosquito traps it was mostly placed on the deck or patio. So, the traps were just attracting the mosquitos to the areas where people did not want them.

hth robb

[Yard Guy]

The location of the trap in the yard should make no difference - and I would say that you want the trap to be located where you or other people usually are in the yard - not in some distant, isolated corner.

The idea that wind is an issue is bogus. If it's too windy for the trap to work then it's also too windy for a mosquito to find and land on me as well.

It seems that these devices are good at attracting mosquitoes, but not catching them.

If they attract more mosquitoes to their immediate area than would ordinarily be there, and if they don't vacuum up 100% of those excess mosquites AS WELL AS capture some of the ones that were already there, then the devices are clearly not beneficial to have.

[Rod Speed]

Wrong. You clearly dont want to be attracting mosquitos to where the humans are.

And since they work on CO2 and attractant, you clearly will only attract mosquitos from downwind.

You're wrong. That will attract mosquitos to that area and if the trap doesnt get them into the trap quickly, they will start biting the humans there.

Like hell it is.

Light wind makes it harder for mosquitos to work out where the CO2 and smells are coming from.

Doesnt explain why he ends up with lots of mosquitos in his trap and far fewer in the parents' trap with an identical design.

Yes, but clearly they do trap lots of mosquitos at his place.

[Yard Guy]

I want the mosquitoes that ARE close to me to be attracted and captured BY THE TRAP. That's not going to happen if the trap is 100 feet from me in some isolated corner of the yard.

Wind shmind.

First you say that wind is bad for these traps to operate, now you say that a downwind is necessary. Which one is it?

Well guess what. Just me being there will attract mosquitos to that area. So we're back to square one.

That's the problem with these things. They seem to do a terrible job at actually capturing them.

Again, your statements are contradictory.

- "you clearly will only attract mosquitos from downwind" - "Light wind makes it harder for mosquitos to work out where the CO2 and smells are coming from"

Can a "downwind" also be a "light wind"?

[Real Pisser]

When the Mosquito magnet was first out and very popular, they had an interactive "video" on their web site. (in fact, they still do, as I just found when I looked) that shows pretty much what Rod is saying.

. The prevailing wind direction, and the placement of the unit is critical to the success of its operation. I tried mine everywhere I could think of, and it still only catches less than 20 mosquitoes each night. It definitely must not be placed where you hang out.

RP

[Dennis M]

I live in a situation that makes my house attract swarms of Asian Lady Beetles (different from the Japanese Beetles that plague gardeners, these are like regular ladybugs on steroids) every October as they look for a place to hang out during the winter. This year I'm thinking about buying an insecticide called "Buggslayer" that's supposed to be really effective on them. They make three varieties: one for Asian Lady Beetles/Box Elder Bugs; one for ants/spiders; and one for mosquitoes/flying insects. It's kind of pricey but I'm willing to pay to prevent those damn beetles from crawling into cracks in the siding, getting disoriented, and making their way into my house. Hope the Northern Tool store in an adjoining city has some of this stuff on hand.

[Rod Speed]

Yard Guy wrote

What I said in different words.

Wrong if thats upwind of where you are.

Wota stunningly rational line of argument you have there, child.

No I didnt.

I didnt say that either, particularly when its clam.

Neither.

Not when the trap is more attractive to mosquitoes than the humans are, because it puts out more CO2 than the humans do.

Wrong, as always.

Not with the counterflow traps that do get them quickly and you havent been stupid enough to put them where the humans are.

They obviously dont if they catch a hell of a lot of mosquitos every night.

Nope.

Doesnt say anything about when its calm, stupid.

Anyone with even half a clue realises that mosquotes just arent a problem when its quite windy.

[John]

Have you considred building bat houses? Environmentally friendly, affordable, and feuled by mosquitos... Bats eat a thousand mosquitos a night, and are rumored to be much more effective than birds at eliminating mosquitos (as they don't eat as many dragonflies). All you need is a reliable water source for them and some cedar, and some non-squeemish family members. Apperently they also eat some of those grub-laying beetles that ruin you lawn.

John