Mosquito Traps

The first mosquito traps were designed by scientists to trap mosquitoes for research in hopes of alleviating mosquito-borne diseases such as malaria and yellow fever. To understand how mosquito traps work, it is important to understand what attracts mosquitoes to humans in the first place.

It is only the female mosquitoes that bite. Female mosquitoes seek out humans and other animals for a blood meal to nourish their eggs. Female mosquitoes, unlike males, have a proboscis. This is a long thin needle-like built-in syringe located at the mouth. They use this to impale their victims, in order to fill their abdomens with blood. Proteins in the blood are necessary to produce fertile eggs. Since males cannot produce eggs they have no need for blood. Females require a new blood 'meal' for every nest they lay, and produce about 250 eggs per meal.

Mosquitoes have many types of sensors designed to track their prey. Some of those include chemical sensors, visual sensors, and heat sensors. Mosquitoes use chemical sensors by sensing carbon dioxide and lactic acid up to 100 feet (36 meters) away. Mammals and birds give off these gases as part of their normal breathing. Certain chemicals in sweat also seem to attract mosquitoes.

Mosquitoes have visual sensors that allow them to see you if you are wear clothing that contrasts with the background. They are able to zero in on you especially if you move while wearing that clothing. Mosquitoes use their heat sensor by detecting the heat in warm-blooded mammals and birds.

Mosquito trapping devices on the market today appeal to the mosquitos' sensors by mimicking humans and animals to lure the mosquitoes in and trap them. Mosquito traps utilize carbon dioxide, light, moisture, heat, sound, and compounds such as octenol to attract mosquitoes.

Octenol is a chemical that attracts biting insects such as mosquitos. It is contained in human breath and sweat. Octenol is sometimes used in combination with carbon dioxide to attract insects in order to kill them. Carbon dioxide is either generated by the catalytic burning of propane or the slow release of compressed carbon dioxide gas. Carbon dioxide is a byproduct of respiration and serves as a long-range cue. When mosquitoes sense carbon dioxide they follow the plume upwind to its source. As mosquitoes get closer to their host, other cues become more important than carbon dioxide. As the mosquito nears its host, it relies more on vision to locate the host. For this reason, pulsating lights and infrared heat source are often used in the traps as well. Once the mosquitoes are attracted, fans pull them either into a net, sticky trap, catch basin, or electric grid.

There are several manufacturers of mosquito traps on the market today. Mega-Catch manufactures three types of mosquito traps that vary depending on the size of the coverage area:

The ALPHA Mosquito Trap can attract mosquitoes from as far away as 90 feet. This trap uses a sophisticated LED display array, which pulses light in the visible and invisible spectrum at oscillating frequencies known to attract most mosquito species. It also uses an air plume enriched with ocetenol, a synthetic component of human perspiration located at the base of the trap and an internal infra red heat source to entice mosquitoes inside. Once inside, the mosquitoes are swept thru a fan and into a catch bag.

The PREMIER Mosquito Trap operates basically the same as the ALPHA Trap, but it has the ability to can attract mosquitoes from as far away as 120 feet.

The ULTRA Mosquito Trap can attract mosquitoes from as far away as 150 feet. The ULTRA incorporates all the sophisticated design features of the PREMIER trap plus Mega-Catch's patented variable quantity slow CO2 gas release system to increase capture rates of most mosquito species by between 300 and 400%. The programmable system enables the ULTRA to duplicate a key feature of human respiration by slowly releasing small quantities of CO2 into the air plume emanating from the base of the trap.

The Mosquito Magnet company has three mosquito traps that vary in coverage area.

• The Mosquito Magnet Defender controls mosquitoes up to one half acre. It has an ocetenol cartridge and a propane tank to create carbon dioxide.


• The Liberty is designed like the Defender but has the ability to control mosquitoes in a one-acre area.


• The Liberty Plus operates just like the Liberty, but is battery operated and requires no cord. It is also 50 percent larger than the Liberty.

With all the mosquito traps on the market today, it might be mind-boggling task deciding which one to chose. A study of side-by-side comparisons of 10 commercially available mosquito traps was conducted in 2004 by Dr Scott A. Ritchie, PhD (University of Florida) & Dr Craig R. Williams, PhD (University of South Australia) in Cairns, Far North Queensland, Australia.

The ten mosquito traps tested were:

• Mega Catch Premier


• Mega Catch Alpha


• Mosquito Magnet Defender


• Mosquito Power Trap MT200


• Lentek MT


• Skeeter Vac SV1000


• Dragonfly


• Sonic Web


• Lentek Ecotrap


• Mosquito Deleto 2200 System

The study site was the Cairns City Council Waste Transfer Facility in Smithfield, a suburb of Cairns. The mosquito-friendly site was an open, grassed area featuring large mounds of garden and tree waste, other solid waste and two creeks with little vegetation. The site was immediately bordered to the east by a Melaleuca forest adjacent to mangroves.

The traps were operated according to the manufacturer's instructions, utilizing octenol lures supplied with the traps when applicable. They were rotated randomly through 12 sites over 12 nights (from approximately one hour prior to sunset until approximately one hour after sunrise). This rotation negated any influence of position on trap performance.

There were a total of 36,786 female mosquitoes captured by the traps used in the study. The Mega-Catch Premier (1343 per night) and Mega-Catch 'Alpha' prototype (752 per night) were the two best traps, followed by the Mosquito Magnet Defender (471 per night). The remaining traps all captured mosquitoes, with means ranging from six to 215 mosquitoes per night.

The researchers concluded that the Mega-Catch 'Premier Mosquito Trap' not only caught the most mosquitoes of the traps, but also did so without the use of carbon dioxide as an attractant. The researchers also noted that the Mega Catch Premier consistently out-performed six other traps that released carbon dioxide. "Such mosquito-catching properties are rare in a trap that does not use carbon-dioxide," the researchers said.

After you've decided which mosquito trap is the best one, then you must determine the best place to put the trap on your property. For the best performance from your mosquito trap, first determine the source of the mosquito nuisance (Mosquitoes breed in wet areas like streams, marshland, wooded areas and gardens). Then use these rules to site the trap:

Rule 1: Place the trap between the mosquito source and areas of human activity.

Rule 2: Place the trap as far away from people and as close to the mosquito source as possible. (Attract them to the trap and not to you.)

Rule 3: Place the trap upwind of the mosquito source but only if you can comply with Rule 1. (Mosquitoes sometimes use the wind to navigate.)

Rule 4: Place the trap in a predominantly shaded area. (Most mosquitoes avoid direct sunlight.)

Rule 5: Place the trap in a location protected from rain and strong wind. (Mosquitoes don't fly in strong winds.)

Rule 6: If severe weather conditions are predicted then store the trap out of the weather.

It is important to note that mosquito traps will begin to catch mosquitoes immediately; however it may take 6-8 weeks of use to reduce local populations to the point that breeding cycles are interrupted. While neither mosquito traps nor anything else will completely eliminate the mosquito population, mosquito traps in combination with other mosquito controlling techniques can significantly reduce the mosquito population around your home.

Visit www.MegaCatch.com for more information.