Carbon Dioxide Mosquito Traps No Magic Bullet, Say UF
Experts
VERO BEACH, Fla. --- With spring rains promising a
bumper crop of mosquitoes, some Floridians may consider buying
expensive high-tech traps that use carbon dioxide to lure the
bloodsuckers. But University of Florida experts warn that buyers who
don't do their homework could still get bitten -- in the
pocketbook.
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Priced from $300 to $1,500, the traps do capture mosquitoes and
other biting insects, said Jonathan Day, an entomologist with UF's
Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences. The real question is
whether they will protect a yard from the pests, he said.
The state is home to 74 species of mosquitoes, of which about
half prey on people, he said. Only a few species are likely to be
controlled with a CO2 trap because variables such as flight range,
habitat preference and feeding behavior determine whether the trap
will capture mosquitoes in large enough numbers to reduce biting
around the home.
"Before you buy a trap, it's crucial that you know what mosquito
species is causing your problem," Day said. "The traps can be very
effective if the target insect is one that doesn't fly very far or
has its breeding site near your home. But most of the mosquitoes
people complain about in Florida have flown a considerable distance
before they end up in someone's back yard and using a trap to
control them is like trying to capture all the grains of sand on the
beach."
Consumers can get help identifying mosquitoes by contacting
UF/IFAS county extension agents, he said. To assess whether a CO2
trap could help, an agent will need to know about vegetation and
surface water in and around the property.
The traps lure mosquitoes by emitting carbon dioxide, a gas
people and animals produce when they breathe, Day said. Some traps
use additional chemicals to mimic other scents. When mosquitoes
reach the trap they are captured by a vacuum or adhesive.
Day, who has used CO2 traps as a research tool for 10 years at
the Florida Medical Entomology Laboratory in Vero Beach, said
despite the traps' efforts to fool mosquitoes with CO2 and other
attractants, the insects prefer people and animals. He is concluding
a study that showed CO2 traps were significantly outperformed by
traps that used live hosts as bait.
Because CO2 traps have only been available to consumers since the
late 1990s, manufacturers are still refining the technology, said
Joe Conlon, a staff entomologist and spokesman with the American
Mosquito Control Association, a nonprofit organization in New
Jersey.
"The attractants don't seem to be working as well as
theoretically possible, and we need a whole lot more research into
the physiology of attractiveness of humans to mosquitoes," Conlon
said.
Species-specific attractants could help consumers solve pest
problems more reliably, said Raymond Iannetta, chairman and chief
executive officer of American Biophysics Corporation, the first
company to produce a CO2 mosquito trap for the consumer market, the
Mosquito Magnet trap. The Rhode Island company is also the first to
develop attractants based on human skin scents, and recently
introduced an attractant designed for the Asian tiger mosquito, he
said.
Iannetta said consumers and scientists may view CO2 traps with
skepticism because other mosquito control devices such as electric
"bug zappers" are not based on valid science. He asserts that his
company's products are effective, and are based on 14 years of
rigorous scientific research and testing.
"A significant hurdle was getting over the industry's gadget or
gimmick syndrome," he said. "We're constantly working with the
scientific community and the public to change that perception."
The company maintains an extensive Web site to educate consumers
about the traps, how they work and how consumers can best use them,
Iannetta said.
Experts agree that operator error can impair a CO2 trap's
performance, said Dan Kline, a research entomologist with the U.S.
Department of Agriculture's Center for Medical, Agricultural and
Veterinary Entomology in Gainesville.
"It's important that people read and follow the owner's manual,"
said Kline, who regularly tests CO2 traps for manufacturers and is
conducting a study to determine if multiple CO2 traps can protect a
neighborhood. "Placement is a big issue -- you need to keep the trap
out of the immediate area where people gather, and try to put it
between the people and the source of the mosquitoes."
Another common problem is that consumers sometimes use the traps
only during outdoor activities, rather than running them
continuously during warm weather, as manufacturers recommend, he
said. 'Round the clock operation of one trap can cost $20 to $25 per
month.
No one should rely exclusively on a CO2 trap for mosquito
control, said Roxanne Rutledge, an entomologist at the UF laboratory
in Vero Beach. Consumers should also follow traditional precautions
such as using repellent, eliminating sources of standing water and
patching holes in screens.
"Try to keep a balance," she said. "Do things around your home to
reduce the number of mosquitoes that breed or get inside, but
understand there are factors beyond your control."
Ultimately, a consumer's tolerance for mosquito bites may be the
only way to measure success with a CO2 trap, Rutledge said.
"It comes down to a matter of perception," she said. "You can
have one of these in your yard, and if you feel like you're not
being bitten by mosquitoes anymore and you're happy with it, then
for you it works."
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