Zap dem bugs!

As we are now in summer (you east coast people thought we'd never see it, did you?), we are in prime bug season. It gets pretty bad here in the very humid nation's capital.

At my parents' house we spend quite a bit of time outside in our backyard, which contains a fair amount of wooded area. This causes a large amount of mosquitos. We'd like that to not happen anymore

About 18 years ago we had a "bug zapper" installed. It was one of those purple glowing things that would make a pretty unpleasant glow every time a bug got zapped. the rest of the time it had a slight hum. The unit was only used for one summer, and is still standing there in our backyard.

My dad really wants to get some sort of really good bug zapper that doesn't make any noise at all. He's seen some that somehow silently kill the mosquitos and other biting insects and claim to be able to clear an acre of area.

Does anyone here know of any products like this? We're talking permanent, heavy-duty fixtures here.

Thanks for your help!

Greetings!

Yes. I have seen it on "This Old House" and other ads. It is called a Mosquito Magnet. It works by using a small propane flame to generate a stream of carbon dioxide to attract the moquitos from a distance, and then a chemical bait to get them in really close. Then a vacuum pulls them into a trap. It is supposed to work, but I have never seen one used.

Excellent! My dad probably saw it on This Old House as well. My parents and I love that show, and my dad reads the magazine

I'll see if that was the one he was looking at.

Well I live a few miles away from a cave filled with bats (Natural Bridge Caverns). Apparently this does the trick, as we don't have much of a bug problem at all. Not an affordable solution for you, though, as it would take moving your house!

Austin has it's famous Congress Ave Bridge bat colony. Quite impressive watching them depart for the evening. I am always amazed at this stat:

"... on the nightly flights out from under the bridge, the Austin bats eat from 10,000 to 30,000 pounds of insects, including agricultural pests." From this page

That's a lot of bugs...

There must be a lot of guano under that bridge

Perhaps somewhere in the middle of the woods out back I could dig an emense underground cave and fill it with bats...

I can attest that those mosquito magnets DO work. And they work very well. They are however extremely expensive.

Not an affordable solution for you, though, as it would take moving your house!

Or, maybe he could just move the cave instead...

tanstaafl.

I can attest that those mosquito magnets DO work

Here in Alaska we have mosquito populations that have to be seen to be believed. Spraying oneself with mosquito repellant reduces the number of mosquitoes that are biting you simultaneously but does not stop the bolder ones. Last night on a mountain bike ride, I probably had 20-30 mosquitoes on my legs, arms, neck and face, even after liberal spraying. I have been on bike rides where I had difficulty breathing heavily (climbing a steep hill) because the mosquitoes were so thick that each inhalation would suck them in unless I breathed only through my nose, where the nose hairs could filter them out.

My particular neighborhood where I live doesn't suffer too much from mosquitoes; but people who live in the outlying areas are just about forced to remain indoors on the days when the mosquitoes are particularly bad -- perhaps something to do with their breeding cycles? (The mosquitoes, not the people, you perverts! )

All that said, several people in my office have purchased the Mosquito Magnet. All are absolutely unreserved in their praise for it. Our engineer brought in a quart-size Zip-Loc bag filled nearly to capacity with dead mosquitoes that the Mosquito Magnet collected over a single weekend.

The downside, as has been mentioned, is they are expensive. Here in Alaska, anywhere from $350--$550, depending mostly on supply and demand. The stores are always sold out of them.

tanstaafl.

With all the talk of how expensive they are, I thought they'd be a lot more than that. Assuming they last a reasonably long time, that seems like a deal to me. Do you know how much propane they consume?

That's what I was thinking. And Doug, I trust Alaska isn't going to hire you for any advertising soon

But thanks, this is what my dad wants. Do anyone know of such a product that can connect to our natural gas line? We ditched the propane grill about 10 years ago. We'd hate to have to go back.

Not to say that there might not be another product that's different, but from the Mosquito Magnet FAQ:

Any combination of propane and butane can be used, including pure butane. Natural gas cannot be used.

Maybe natural gas combustion doesn't produce enough carbon dioxide? Just a guess; I'm not a chemist.

I was just reading about the mosquito Magnet devices and they are supposedly very reliable, as has been said.

The thing I found most interesting in the same article (U.S. News & World Report I believe) was that the "Bug Zappers" were bad to use against mosquitoes. Their reason given was the Zappers actually kill bugs that will eat mosquitoes and their larvae.

According to the web site, all three models require you to change the propane tank once every 21 days. That's more propane consumption than I would have guessed. Still, what, six to ten time during a bad summer isn't so bad.

Damn. That's why we want to use natural gas. We're lazy!

Do you know how much propane they consume?


At one time I did, but I don't remember. It isn't a lot -- I think most people use a 20-lb propane tank and it lasts for weeks.

tanstaafl.

Don't forget the traps have to be changed too. BUT, they can be had at Wal-Mart.

Maybe natural gas combustion doesn't produce enough carbon dioxide? Just a guess; I'm not a chemist.

Okay, it looks like NG is mostly methane, which is CH4. Propane is C3H8. Combusting those yields:

CH4 + (2)O2 -> CO2 + (2)H2O
C3H8 + (5)O2 -> (3)CO2 + (4)H2O

It says on the MM website that butane can also be used, so:

(2)C4H10 + (13)O2 -> (8)CO2 + (10)H2O

Now that I've written all that out, I still don't know what it means. Maybe NG just burns too readily or something.

Well all i know is NG is almost all methane with a few heavys thrown in hence we carry it at -150 degrees centigrade

propane is -40 and butane is -4

No use what so ever but it is what i know, Also i think methane burns far cleaner and probably less CO2

And since it is the CO2 you want to attract the mosquitos, it is probably ineffective to use NG.

I suppose so. Looking back at those chemical reactions, methane combustion yields half of its yield in CO2, whereas propane yields three-quarters and butane yields eight-tenths. Ignoring molecular weights and whatnot, since we're always dealing with only the same two molecules at the end, NG obviously yields much less. No need to go through molarity conversions and whatnot.

The Mosquito Magnet Defender the cheaper of the three models is on sale at the moment for $269.99.

Other then differances in area coverage is there any real differance in the three models?

Does anyone on

The Pro doesn't require an external electrical source.

That's neat, and it might be good for my small backyard in Williamsburg, but my parents have a much larger space to cover. There's a wooded area, pool, and porch, and we need the acre coverage. I also don't think we'll be going for the Pro model. $1300!! Phew!

We actually went to our local hardware store but they were out of propane and we didn't feel like buying them seperately at that moment. We'll probably go again tonight.

Thanks everyone! And Doug, my parents and the folks in my office enjoyed the tales of Alaska

that reminds me of the LOTR Two Towers marsh scene.
"What do they eat when the can't get hobbit????"

that reminds me of the LOTR Two Towers marsh scene.
"What do they eat when the can't get hobbit????"


Ummmm... actually, that line is from "The Fellowship of the Ring", as the hobbits and Strider/Aragorn are making their way towards Weathertop.

God only knows why I would know that... except just maybe the fact that my Plays counter on my empeg shows I have listened to the audio book 11 times now, and I know I have read the books more times than that.

Maybe I need to get a life...

tanstaafl.

God only knows why I would know that...

Don't feel too bad, I caught it too. I just wasn't going to say anything . . . Great line though, regardless of where it's from.