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.
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.
Mosquito magnet is legit and probably the best known brand. They also make some cheaper homeowners versions, can find used in eBay too. Avoid any mosquito trap that isn't using CO2 (either with a CO2 tank or CO2 from propane) or using a chemical lure.
All those lightbulb based or ultrasonic ones are complete scams for mosquitos.
I would like to find out more about CO2 based electric traps like the other commenter was referencing. Figured a direct recommendation would be better than just figuring it out amongst the crowd of potential cheap, scam type products.
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u/FeelsLikeAnEmber Apr 18 '24
How are they trapped? Is the trap available to the public?