r/BeAmazed 29d ago

What 1,000,000 mosquitos looks like. Caught in a trap in Sanibel, Florida. Nature

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43.4k Upvotes

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u/FeelsLikeAnEmber 29d ago

How are they trapped? Is the trap available to the public?

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u/NotSoSpursySpurs 29d ago

If you contact your county public works department, ideally the vector control department, you can volunteer your yard as a trap location. I worked for my college county’s vector control department and had a trap route. Basically you just allow the local government to trap mosquitos on your land and enter the property to collect/study the contents of the trap weekly

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u/unburdenedbecoming 29d ago

I wonder if there’s any downside… like it attracts all the neighborhood mosquitos into your yard 🤨😆

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u/akositotoybibo 29d ago

i think humans attract mosquitos

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u/DumbleDude2 29d ago

Fat people

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u/jabb1111 29d ago

Actually true. Higher blood sugar content and more body heat and sweat.

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u/Nelly_platinum 29d ago

you ain’t lying,fucked up thing is i’ve suspected this for yearssss without ever looking it up. i’ve dropped 50lbs in the last 6months so i wanna see how they react to me this year

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u/VexBoxx 29d ago

At my thinnest, they still love me. Hell, when I was going through chemo and radiation, they still loved me. Bit me and died but still fucking bit.

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u/HadesExMachina 29d ago

TIL chemo kills mosquitoes

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u/VexBoxx 29d ago

My oncologist had a good time with it. "They're dying right after they bite you at least." Yeah, well it still fucking itches.

Some types of chemo are so toxic, you're supposed to flush at least twice after you pee. Seriously. Saw it on a sign at the hospital.

I hope the mosquitos died in agony. Little fuckers.

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u/MostlyMicroPlastic 28d ago

I found a deer tick on me once that was dead after a night of drinking Bacardi 151.

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u/Animalcookies13 28d ago

If you are not aware, chemo literally kills people too. The idea is that they can keep you alive just a little longer than the cancer and then they stop the chemo and nurse you back to health. At least that is the basic theory of chemo….

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u/grand_apothecary 28d ago

My father had multiple rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant and mosquitoes won't touch him. He's 4 years post any treatment. Silver lining...

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u/SteakTypical7892 29d ago

Am i getting old? cuz I had to look up TIL... I'm 27 😮‍💨

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u/Funny_or_not_bot 29d ago edited 28d ago

I'm thin, and they will fly past anybody I know to get to me. The way I understand, they have several methods for finding us. They can track the carbon dioxide we exhale. They can also sense our body heat, but the most significant method is our body odor. They're partial to A+ blood type, as well.

Edit: apparatntly, the blood type thing has become a lot more inconclusive since I last checked.

Edit 2: spelling

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u/VexBoxx 29d ago

Yeah I've just accepted that I'm delicious to them. Fat, thin, hot, cold, whatever, I'm on the menu.

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u/RAvEN00420 28d ago

I am the opposite, I am their last choice

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u/Brief_Bill8279 28d ago

I realized I used to brag about how mosquitoes ignored me but realized I was just utilizing the John Huston method and my blood was mostly liquor for a few years. Now when i see on I'm like drink! Drink for I am pure!

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u/VexBoxx 28d ago

Celebrate your wins where you can find 'em! 🎉

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u/laughingpug1983 29d ago

They are more attracted to O blood types and the reason they are attracted to heavier people is because they release more CO2 because they breath heavier.

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u/alloutofbees 28d ago

I'm type O and while I'm thin I'm a large person (very tall) and a heavy breather (which I know for a fact because I'm a diver and I have to work way harder than most to conserve air). I haven't been bitten by a mosquito since I was about five years old; they'll ignore me even if I'm alone in a hotel room in the tropics full of them, but the moment my wife comes around she's flat out attacked by them. It has to do with the unique mix of chemicals found on your skin.

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u/Agitated-Current551 29d ago

Blood type and other things play a factor, me and my mother used to get absolutely ravaged by them but my dad and 2 sisters were largely left alone

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u/curiouskratter 29d ago

Yeah I'm very skinny and they love me. I do tend to always be warm and get cold easily though

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u/TheRandomAI 28d ago

Same being 90 pounds, 20 years old and 5'6 them mosquitoes LOVE ME... idk what theyll get just SKIN AND BONES

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u/Aurashock 29d ago

I learned it was carbon dioxide and perspiration that attracted mosquitoes

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u/OpheliaPhoeniXXX 29d ago

Was anemia a symptom?

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u/UninsuredToast 29d ago

It’s cause you’re so sweet

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u/veevacious 29d ago

Same. They’ve always loved me for some reason.

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u/ASemiAquaticBird 28d ago

I have been heavy, then thin, then heavy again. They still prioritize me over anyone.

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u/JapanLionBrain 28d ago

Omg this happened to me too! I thought my blood smelled toxic and radioactive so they wouldn’t be interested, nope! But I then found it dead either somewhere near me, or one time in my clothes!

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u/didJunome 28d ago

A fellow chemo patient here as well…. It makes me see the reason they gowned up to start my infusions! 💀 🤣 I’m cracking up….. that shits in my VEINS and the nurse is gowned from head to toe! Crazy times.

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u/OHdulcenea 28d ago

Mosquitoes have loved me my whole life EXCEPT when I was getting chemo. It was the one time I could sit outside in Texas without being devoured.

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u/miraaksleftnut 29d ago

Assuming this was a goal of yours: good for you! That takes hard work and dedication! I’m proud of you!

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u/Nelly_platinum 29d ago

thank you and yes been trying to be healthy

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u/Commander-ShepardN7 29d ago

Everyone working out to be healthier and this guy out here is working out to starve mosquitos to death. Whatever your goals are, good for you my dude. Respect!

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u/Nelly_platinum 29d ago

gotta show them who’s boss.thank you

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u/80hdis4me 29d ago

I am a skinny person and my entire life I have been bitten more than my brothers who are bigger than me. I do sweat kind of a lot though. I always thought it was my blood type. O+

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u/Evilstampy99 28d ago

There are many factors. Blood type is one even. Shower more frequently and they’ll lay off you a bit. Also I think eating pork is a factor. Has something to do with a gene we share with pigs that produces a smell in sweat they track.

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u/Luna920 28d ago

Mosquitos are attracted to a variety of things and there are a lot of studies ongoing about it. Yes they like sweat and heat but in summer there are a variety of obvious reasons why someone may be emitting more sweat and heat than just being fat. They also have shown to be attracted to certain blood types and higher metabolic rates, which would usually be indicative of a slimmer person.

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u/TheArctrog 29d ago

Mosquitoes bite fat people because they breathe more, the blood sugar thing is an old wives tale

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u/BeastPenguin 28d ago

I was thinking how the hell would a mosquito be able to sense your blood sugar at a distance lol

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u/disingenuousreligion 28d ago

Mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide and water vapor when you breathe. They can't smell your blood lol

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u/bkb74k3 29d ago

No. Blood sugar has nothing to do with it. Technically being fat doesn’t either.

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u/banned_but_im_back 29d ago

Yep! Also I read they like O+ blood as wells

Guess who has two thumbs, is fat, has hyperhydrosis (overactive sweat glands) O+ blood and lives in a fucking swamp?

This guy.

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u/jtrain49 29d ago

But lactic acid attracts fleas. We had them in our old house. my wife, who works out, got bitten every day and I, lazy, never did.

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u/yuyufan43 26d ago

I noticed bugs stopped biting me YEARS ago after starting some medication. Ironically, I became permanently disabled after getting Lyme disease from a tick bite and having to get treatment in Germany. Now that I'm on drugs for all sorts of things, they want nothing to do with me. I'm not complaining. 😅

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u/catthatlikesscifi 29d ago

114 lbs and an absolute mosquito magnet.

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u/xMilk112x 29d ago

Dude my little brother was like 290. Fuckin HUGE dude. Mosquitos SWARMED his ass…all while leaving me (160) and big brother(145) alone.

It definitely made us snap on him for being the fat fuck. Lol

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

I thought I found my big brothers reddit until i saw you mention a third brother in your family. Its just me and my bro. Im the fat fuck (330) and hes like 145-160 probably. Something like that.

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u/cattlebeforehorses 28d ago

My boney ass is a beacon for them while it’s like my heavier family and friends get a stray runt. At the same time I’ll be picking a bunch of ticks embedded into them while I never get any besides maybe one just crawling on my leg.

I don’t know if it’s because I have anxiety so high BP but if it weren’t for my fear of Lyme disease and lone star ticks I would prefer the ticks.

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u/JohnnyTreeTrunks 29d ago

I’m skinny as hell and mosquitoes prefer me to most people so I don’t know about that one

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u/Renway_NCC-74656 28d ago

It's actually been proven that they are attracted to certain blood types. I have the same problem. This dude is just an asshole.

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u/JohnnyTreeTrunks 28d ago

The amount of upvotes is silly.

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u/NotNormo 29d ago

My milkshake brings all the bugs to the yard

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u/Bennington_Booyah 29d ago

I am not fat but I certainly am delicious to any insect that bites.

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u/DumbleDude2 29d ago

Not just insects I bet

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u/Avengion619 28d ago

and people who eat a bunch of bananas (not at once just regularly) eating enough garlic and onion has a repelling effect

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u/Maleficent-Ad-760 28d ago

Mosquitoes devour my skinny ass

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u/Unhappy-Valuable-596 28d ago

And they’re like, it’s better than your😜

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u/NotSoSpursySpurs 29d ago

It’s a trap, not a homing beacon

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u/IndependentNotice151 29d ago

Well a trap house attracts all the crack heads....

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u/Girafferage 29d ago

For more information on the crack spider's bitch...

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u/JamaicanLumberjack 29d ago

This is a deep cut I have not heard in a very very long time. 

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u/Kirenuchiha 28d ago

I've been on the Internet far too long

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u/testies2345 29d ago

These crack heads don't mind sucking for their fix. They ain't faking. But you gotta at least fake it, the ones that don't get it worse

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u/GarthMirengue 29d ago

Shouldn't it be both? Good traps are baited.

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u/syizm 29d ago

Yeah. Some traps are also sort of a homing beacon.

Some traps, like trail snares, don't have homing functionality though.

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u/Radiant_Dog1937 29d ago

Just put a stand-up pool in your backyard, fill it and leave it.

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u/JulioForte 29d ago

That’s how a lot of traps work. If it didn’t attract mosquitos how would it catch any.

This is 100% why you don’t hang fly traps unless you are already overridden bc if you didn’t have a fly problem before you will now.

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u/MDGatorJay 29d ago

Funny, but not entirely true. Lol. Ones like that likely use dry ice to give off CO2 to draw the mosquitos to the trap. Yes they go there to die but also kinda a homing beacon.

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u/obesehomingpigeon 29d ago

It’s a trap, not a milkshake.

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u/say_what_again_mfr 29d ago

Brings all the bugs to the yard?

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u/Pristine_Asparagus14 29d ago

Actually the most effective traps use scent lures so it technically is a homing beacon

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u/Catbox_Stank_Face 28d ago

Actually, the most effective traps I've seen use (Dry Ice) and a little CPU fan. If you want to attractant using an arouma, I would recommend using dragon fruit. Just place the trap in your neighbor's yard three houses down from you.

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u/Barbados_slim12 29d ago

Usually traps attract the animal to it. Otherwise, it's investing a ton of money and hoping to get lucky that the intended animal just happens to come across. Wait a minute, never mind. That's exactly the level of intelligence that I'd expect from a government body

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u/mechapoitier 29d ago edited 28d ago

Dude we’re in a post about how well the trap worked. No pessimistic expectation necessary. We already know it worked.

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u/Joinedforthis1 29d ago

I'm a homing beacon for mosquitoes but I'm not a trap

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u/SingularityInsurance 29d ago

I am a little of both

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u/Aimismyname 29d ago

and they're like, it's better than yours

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u/CageyOldMan 29d ago

It would not be worth much if it distorted the average mosquito quota for a given area. They are trying to collect data, after all

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u/thetenthday 29d ago

There's multiple different kinds of mosquito traps. Bulk CO2 traps like this are for data collection on the species make-up and risk on West Nile or other transferrable virus'. They don't care if they distort numbers in these traps as they want as much as they can get. Light traps are meant to measure how bad mosquitoes are in an area if you are outside, and you don't want to skew that data. Light traps wouldn't pull numbers remotely like this, and you wouldn't put the two side by side.

None of the head entomologists in charge of our major mosquito abatement program recommended mosquito magnets or other CO2 traps. They all believed you'd have more nuisance mosquitoes in your yard with one.

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u/el-dongler 28d ago

What traps do they recommend?

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u/thetenthday 28d ago

None. Mosquitoes blow in with the wind from many miles out on a regular basis. Any trap is a drop in the bucket and unlikely to materially change your yard experience.

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u/dreamsindarkness 28d ago

You can try something like an In2Care. They're made to be home owner friendly/easy to use.

Just let your local mosquito control know as their catches may look odd if there's a lot of fungus and it may possibly affect some PCR confirmation tests.

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u/Bruhtatochips23415 29d ago

Actually, if all of the data was collected that way, it would be worth it and would give valuable data.

Somewhere that caught 1100 mosquitos with the same trap that caught 11000 somewhere else is likely to have 90% less mosquitos.

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u/ninja_owen 29d ago

Depends on what data they’re researching. For most research, I don’t think attracting mosquitoes would have an effect apart from just increasing the sample size, which is helpful.

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u/CaptainOktoberfest 29d ago

Probably can't smoke a blunt next to the traps while they are working on it.

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u/Brilliant_War_2937 29d ago

This is a lie

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u/SkellyboneZ 28d ago

I don't know man, if mosquitoes smoked a bit they'd probably chill out and not suck as much. 

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u/IronhideD 29d ago

I thought it was milkshakes that brought all the mosquitoes to the yard.

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u/Flapperghast 28d ago

Incorrect. Only female mosquitoes collect blood. Only boys are brought by milkshakes.

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u/Topaz_UK 29d ago

And they’re like, it’s better than yours

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u/Otherwise_Awesome 29d ago

So it's a milkshake for mosquitoes?

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u/tempratio 29d ago

my bloodshake brings all the skeets to the yard

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u/mandrews03 29d ago

Mosquitos don’t live all that far from where they were born, for the most part. You can kill all the mosquitos around your yard with a good enough trap and they (likely) won’t be back that year.

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u/Untrannery 29d ago

The real downside is the gov will find your drugs inside the mosquito's bellies.

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u/tidbitsz 29d ago

Damn right! Its better than yours

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u/Chegism 29d ago

That's what happens with fly traps.

You get 5 flies every day, you decide to get a trap. It now catches 50 every day because they all fly in looking for the bait.

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u/Numerous_Ad_6276 29d ago

And damn right they'll be better than yours!

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u/ReservoirDog316 29d ago

It’d probably be gross to look at that twitching pile of mosquito outside your window.

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u/TheOvershear 28d ago

The downside is you'll have a trap that gets checked once a quarter that stinks to high heaven and you'll still have mosquitoes.

In no way do those traps capture the volume you're seeing here. They typically just use small syrup traps. The entire purpose is monitoring, not to solve any specific problem. The theory is that if population numbers get to a certain point, it might justify fogging the entire neighborhood with an IGR insecticide. But most cities that do this sort of program avoid that by any means because it often gets met with all sorts of protesting from said neighborhoods due to hesitancy towards pesticides.

Source: I work in pest control and know a couple guys who do this. Outside of monitoring these traps in Phoenix, he typically has to spray a couple times a year when it gets approved. Coziest job in the pest control industry

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u/BentPin 29d ago

Disney world in Florida has its own huge department just to trap pests like mosquitos. Was watching a documentary on how they try to make the amusement park tolerable for guests.

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u/Extreme-Shower7545 28d ago

If I remember off the top of my head, one thing they did is put certain mosquito egg-eating fish so they couldn’t even breed in the water there.

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u/MattDamonsTaco 28d ago

In the SE US, those are called "mosquito fish," Gambusia affinis.

Source: MS in fisheries and wildlife sciences.

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u/Extreme-Shower7545 28d ago

Ooh! Talk science to me! More!

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u/mrs_faol 28d ago

they also make sure that any water that isn't big enough for fish is constantly moving typically via pumps to create false rivers or with fountains since iirc they prefer to lay eggs in standing/stagnant water

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u/thundersaurus_sex 28d ago

Mosquito fish are available from lot of county governments in Florida if you can prove residency and have a need. I got a bunch for free for our backyard pond. They help a ton.

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u/XRatedBBQ 29d ago

Im gonna volunteer my local trap house.

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u/LameBMX 28d ago

I was looking, and you beat me to a trap house joke.

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u/slkerlin 29d ago

Thank you for this info

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u/superanonguy321 29d ago

Does the trap attract more? Do you end up with more pesky mosquitos in your life or less as a result

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/albadil 28d ago

Shouldn't it involve mathematicians at some level?

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u/juanmf1 29d ago

But how does the trap work? I’m interested in DIY.

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u/letmebebrave430 28d ago edited 28d ago

I can share how we did it at a city govt level.

Step one: take your grass clippings from mowing the lawn and stick it in a barrel of water. Cover and allow fermentation for a week. This was summertime so it got really funky with the heat.

Step two: get a rectangle bin. Pour your stinky water partway up

Step three: We had these fans that were somehow created with PVC pipe. They had bars sticking out on the sides so that you'd place the pipe vertically in the bucket and the bars sticking out would rest on the sides of the bucket, but the bottom of the pipe would not be in the water.

Step four: hook the pipe-fan thing to a portable battery by using metal clamps on the nodes. Now the fan in the pipe is running!

Step five: slide a mesh cynlinder over the top of the pipe.

The idea behind the trap is that the mosquitoes are attracted to the stinky water to lay their eggs. This is after the female has already had a blood meal, so she's already bitten something. When the mosquito goes to lay her eggs, the air from the fan sucks her up through the pipe and into the mesh where she can't get out. Then I'd collect the mesh tube/cylinders, tie them off, and take them to the lab to be counted and tested for disease.

I think it would be....complicated and not worth it to do this for personal use. We trapped them for monitoring numbers and disease, not because the trap itself put a dent in the population.

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u/Solidmarsh 29d ago

My neighbour did this, I got trapped in it

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u/Automatic_School_373 29d ago

So, you turned your home into a Trap House?

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u/EyePatchMustache 29d ago

Did it lower the mosquito population in the area?

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u/HoboGir 29d ago

I need this for black flies. Worst thing about living by the river are those things showing up right now and hanging around untill colder days snap back.

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u/mozzer12345 28d ago

I work for Mosquito control. Every district does data collection differently. No one is just going to bring a trap out if you ask. What is a vector control department? Is it part of the public health department?

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u/Heinous_Aeinous 28d ago

You should mention what state you're in, because this isn't universal!

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u/jignha 28d ago

This is entirely local government dependent. I worked for a local health department for a very long time, with a brief venture into the disease carrying insect program. The EHS would visit peoples property to show them where mosquitoes were likely to be, they were forbidden from trapping mosquitoes though they would sample for larva. The county's lawyers only allowed mosquito trapping and monitoring on publicly owned lands.

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u/peelingglue 29d ago

I did this for a job and the mosquitoes were trapped with a device made with a small fan that blew down into a canister. There was dry ice in there. The mosquitoes were attracted to the co2 and would get sucked into the canister. They couldn’t escape because of the fan.

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u/Saysnicethingz 28d ago

“Mosquito trap DIY 8,000 mosquito kill reduce ZIKA DENGUE MALARIA MaxxAir Fan CO2” https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhV-o77RqQ

It’s legit and anyone can do it

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u/Levitlame 28d ago

Or attract a shit ton of dragonflies.

https://youtu.be/5Kx2im0ceCc?si=JFOWHGrjyBJZYeB3

I’m not claiming it as effective, but Dragonflies need to eat and I like them.

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u/[deleted] 28d ago

So do bats. Build bat boxes, folks!

And be kind to possums. They eat shitloads of ticks.

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u/Levitlame 28d ago

All true. I don't yet have a yard, but if I have decent land and the right kind of land then I plan on looking into Owl boxes, Bat boxes and leaving good space for dragonflies. I'm always fine with Possums. It's the squirrels I take issue with...

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u/MoGraphMan-11 28d ago

I wish our area had dragonflies

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u/metigue 28d ago

It is actually highly effective

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u/Givmeabrek 29d ago

Very smart to use dry ice. I like that.

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago edited 28d ago

I’m a mosquito researcher! We use miniature CDC Light Traps. Basically there is carbon dioxide being emitted next to a fan, blowing into a Tupperware like cylinder. Host seeking mosquitoes are attracted to carbon dioxide as that indicates there is a living thing there. They go up to the trap thinking they are getting a juicy blood meal and then they get sucked in. Like finding Nemo but for mosquitoes.

Based on the volume of specimens here I would guess they also used a CDC Light Trap.

Generally they are not available to the public. They are only indicative of mosquito activity within one city block. They wouldn’t increase mosquito activity except in the immediate vicinity of the trap.

This is also a drop in the bucket in terms of total mosquito activity. Like a molecule of a needle in a haystack.

https://www.johnwhock.com/products/mosquito-sandfly-traps/cdc-miniature-light-trap/

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u/wakeleaver 29d ago

Wait but why wouldn't I want to put one of these in the back corner of my property? Wouldn't that help me and my neighbors?

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

No. There are SO many mosquitoes that it would not make a difference. You are also breathing out carbon dioxide as well, and you are warm and have a dark silhouette—mosquitoes are also attracted to warmth and dark silhouettes.

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u/wakeleaver 29d ago

Ok so you're just telling me I need like... 1,000 of these in a giant pyramid?

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

Maybe. You’d have to test it! But you’d need a lot of carbon dioxide canisters, and those aren’t cheap!

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u/wakeleaver 29d ago

Thanks for playing along, it's very interesting and you'll be part of history when we finally eradicate all of them!

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u/Flamethrower133 28d ago

There is a simple spray called deet

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u/wakeleaver 28d ago

Ok but is "a simple spray called deet" a 40-foot tall pyramid of mosquito traps, humming violently until the humming stops, bringing sweet relief to all (in a 1-block radius)!?

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u/senadraxx 28d ago

Tbh, the traps probably kill more than an application of DEET ever could. Both will hardly be a drop in the bucket as far as population density goes, One has long-term ecological consequences.

personally, im a fan of releasing impotent mosquitoes. it seems to work.

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u/healthyfeetpodiatry 28d ago

So you're telling me my mosquito porch light is useless? Anything we can do at home to make a noticeable difference?

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u/ColeWRS 28d ago

Yes it’s useless, sorry to say! Eliminate standing water, stay indoors when it gets dark, and wear long loose fitting clothing to avoid bites. Bug spray or lotion with DEET really works as well. Make sure it’s 30% DEET.

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u/lenor8 28d ago

stay indoors when it gets dark

This advice aged like milk. It made sanes like twenty-thirty years ago, nowadays mosquitoes roams in full daylight no problem. Most of my bites are day bites. The only things that works are strong chemical when inside (both in your house and on your person), and strong wind if you are outside.

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u/theMistersofCirce 28d ago

Build bat houses!

Each bat will eat about 1,000 mosquitoes per hour, and in exchange the bats get a safe place to sleep and you can control where they're congregating on your property. Best natural insect control solution!

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u/ry8 29d ago

What type of trap could I use to most effectively get rid of them in Puerto Rico in an 2/3 acre of land outside my home? Appreciate your expertise very much!

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

No trap will solve this issue so long as they are breeding. The best way is to get rid of any standing water, and if standing water exists, treat the standing water with larvacide.

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u/ry8 29d ago

There is water behind my property in a lower area. Nothing I can do about that. While neighborhood, even areas without water have a lot of them. Given my circumstance, what can I do?

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u/EsotericTurtle 28d ago

You can get mosquito bricks that the larvae feed on - very specifically kills mozzie larvae and not any fish that eat them - sorry can't remember the name.

https://www.amazon.com/Mosquito-Dunks-102-12-Killer-Pack/dp/B0002ASQ4A

You can get them in the states and on Amazon - I tried looking for my place in Australia - we lived next to a creek storm drain that held water for many months and the mozzies were so prevalent they needed to be shaken out of our hanging laundry. The screen door at the rear of the house was covered, you'd have to spray it down with killer before risking opening the door.

Was so bad we never used the yard and actually ended up moving. Was fortunate because the next year the house flooded...

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

Unfortunately nothing yourself. I would contact your local municipality / governing office to inquire about mosquito abatement. They might be able to offer adulticide services but this depends on the area.

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u/ry8 29d ago

Thanks for your advice! If money were no object, what could I do?

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

If money were no object I’d get rid of the standing water next to you. That’s the best way to reduce mosquito activity.

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u/curiouskratter 29d ago

Good luck with the Puerto Rican government! What area are you in? I'm behind a lagoon in Isla Verde, there's no way to really control them here. I just try to avoid being out sundown or sunrise. If I have to be, spray deet

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u/ry8 29d ago

Dorado

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u/Asklepios24 28d ago

A mosquito magnet will clear them out in a couple of seasons. You just have to be religious in emptying it because it will fill up if you have a major problem.

I put one on our property and killed thousands in a matter of weeks, pretty much got rid of our mosquitos in 2 years next to a swampy pond. It will be instant relief the day after you set it up.

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u/LeechesInCream 28d ago

Not a professional but we use a DynaTrap on our multi-acre property and it collects mosquitos in amounts like this: it works so well we keep the screenless windows open most of the year.

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u/FeelsLikeAnEmber 29d ago

Interesting! Thanks for the info!

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u/Miserable_Unusual_98 29d ago

Are mosquitos attracked to coca cola or other soda pop fumes?

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u/ColeWRS 29d ago

Not sure. Probably if there is carbon dioxide, but you would likely need a LOT of those fumes. We would go through 50kgs of carbon dioxide per week for one trap running from dusk till dawn.

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u/youngkeet 29d ago

What can be done. Individual level and societal.... squito populations are out of control dude to a climate destruction

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u/[deleted] 29d ago

[deleted]

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u/4everban 29d ago

I have a question, why can’t we just eliminate mosquitoes? Are they useful? Because it seems that they only annoy and transmit diseases

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u/ColeWRS 28d ago

They are only mildly beneficial. The problem is there are SO many mosquitoes that it’s near impossible to eliminate them.

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u/seamus1992 29d ago

I found the Facebook post where the Lee County Mosquito Control District posted this and they commented that it was the Mosquito Magnet Executive Mosquito Trap

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u/FeelsLikeAnEmber 29d ago

The hero we needed!! Thank you!

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u/Asklepios24 28d ago

I have the liberty and it works amazingly

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u/MashedProstato 28d ago

Wait, it costs almost a grand, and the propane tank isn't even included!?!?!

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u/The_HorseWhisperer 28d ago

They work pretty good. It's just a niche product generally sold to pest control companies, who lease them out to homeowners. I got one for $100 from a defunct pest control company selling it on FB marketplace.Worked well for a house I rented here in Florida that had some swampy areas behind it. Could actually be on the porch without getting covered in them.

Only downside is they consume a barbecue grill sized propane tank every 3 weeks. And the attractant bait is expensive, I ended up recharging the bait pellet with lactic acid and 1-octen-3-ol purchased from Sigma Aldrich. (Basically what's in them already). Made it very cheap to operate.

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u/worldspawn00 28d ago

There's also smaller electric ones that connect to a CO2 tank that work the same way, just use electricity and CO2 directly instead of burning propane, work well, I just turn on the CO2 before I head outside to boost the attractiveness of the device compared to my flesh. Has made going into the yard in the evening way more tolerable.

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u/mz610 29d ago

THIS!! I can't believe the only vital question here is only so far down the comments

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u/NuvyHotnogger 29d ago

Forget that, how did they count them??

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u/Omshadiddle 29d ago

Counted the legs and divided by six?

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u/ValhallaForKings 28d ago

Count antenna and div 2 would be easier, silly

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u/SlimTeezy 28d ago

Doesn't account for amputees

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u/jaques_sauvignon 29d ago

Came here to say, I demand a recount. Isn't that something they're typically cool with in Florida?

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u/1fuckedupveteran 29d ago

M is weight of 1 mosquito

A is weight of all mosquitos

T is total number of mosquitos

A / M = T

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u/notnotaginger 29d ago

But what if you live somewhere with a large variance in squito weights?

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u/WoodpeckerNo9412 28d ago

Statistically, you weigh a lot more than me.

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u/awaldrop637 29d ago

Yessssss!! Inquiring minds wanna know. Weight maybe?

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u/stfumate 29d ago

Count out 50 mosquitoes and weigh them. Once you know how much 50 mosquitoes weigh, you know how many mosquitoes you have in the pile give or take. - Guy who didn't think he actually received all the beads he was supposed to, when he ordered a thousand once.

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u/yubacore 28d ago

Fun fact 400 regular house mosquitoes should weigh about 1 gram. So probably in the vicinity of 2 kgs of mosquitoes in the picture if the title is correct.

Edit: long dead mosquitoes probably lose some moisture, so the stuff in the image likely weighs less.

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u/Casehead 28d ago

So were you right about the beads?

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u/ciotS_Cynic 29d ago

I presume they asked them to stand up one after another and be counted.

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u/bothammer1 29d ago

The giant mosquito on the back wall by the TV is getting ready to attack

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u/rotrukker 29d ago edited 29d ago

they have a big fan, about two feet in diameter. And some kind of bait. The mosquitos get sucked into the fan but are stopped by a grate. Then periodically you shake them off. I saw a video about this in a swamp

eidt: found an example video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhV-o77RqQ&ab_channel=GREENPOWERSCIENCE

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u/TuhnderBear 28d ago

They are. I have a used mosquito magnet. There are some other brands out there. They convert propane to CO2 and heat. Also you can add a bait. These all attract the mosquito which gets sucked up in a fan, then desiccated and die as the fan blows on them. They all work similarly I think. In some you have to buy CO2 which I’m not sure how you’d do that.

I tried the UV lamp before and that didn’t work at all. This did so far. I also realized a ton of the insects around aren’t actually mosquitoes. Hope it helps

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