What Are Mosquito Traps, Bug Zappers, and Ultrasonic Devices? Are They Effective? A.
Until recently, traps worked to collect some specimens and determine which species were present, but didn’t control mosquitoes. Now some traps are touted as potential mosquito control devices. Some of the mosquito traps now available use carbon dioxide as their principal attractant, and others add octenol or other attractants. Some of these newer traps capture many times the number of mosquitoes as their predecessors, and may help reduce mosquito annoyance. Results, however, can vary, and no reports have appeared in the scientific literature that measure mosquito numbers or bite counts to compare traps with other control measures. So it is really not known how effective they are at reducing the risk of getting bitten, especially by the critical species that spread arboviruses. Mosquito traps on the market can be very expensive. You can buy many years’ worth of repellent for the cost of one trap.
