Every night time, a mass assassin stalks the darkness of America’s suburbs. An eerie blue glow lures hapless victims from their homes. The doomed souls, mesmerized by the light, throng to their deaths in scorching blasts of electricity. I’m talking concerning the bug zapper. Many people use the gadget to rid themselves of mosquitoes and different pests. “Kill flies, mosquitoes, gnats, and wasps,” touts Black and Decker. Flowtron will help remove flying pests over up to “2 acres” for just $315. Another advertises itself as an “eco-friendly” solution to “instantly kill” mosquitoes. The issue? None of these claims are true, scientists say. The truth is, bug zappers make it extra probably you’ll be bitten by mosquitoes while sitting in your backyard mosquito control. “When it involves mosquitoes, bug zappers don’t work,” says James Fordyce, an entomologist at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville. Bug zappers are exceptional killers of bugs - simply not those that chunk you. Among the many hundreds of insects these units electrocute each night time, nearly all are harmless.

One research estimated even a fraction of the bug zappers offered in the United States kill greater than 70 billion insects yearly - with no discernible impression on mosquitoes or different biting insects. This pointless slaughter of local insect populations could also be hastening the decline of species, the insect apocalypse. I talked to consultants about why bug zappers are a extremely bad thought to do away with mosquitoes - and what works as an alternative. Bug zappers purport to work by attracting mosquitoes, typically utilizing a lightbulb that emits ultraviolet light, or sometimes carbon dioxide or chemical bait. Yet studies show virtually no mosquitoes or cordless bug zapper other biting insects ever enter a zapper. In 1997, the University of Florida’s medical entomological laboratory tallied the death toll from one bug zapper over a single night time: 10,000 insects. Just eight were mosquitoes. Similar research mirrored these findings. Around the same time, researchers on the University of Delaware used a bug zapper to lure 13,789 insects over a summer season.

Only 31 - 0.22 percent - have been biting insects akin to mosquitoes and gnats. What did it kill? Beneficial bugs, largely. Roughly half the victims - 6,670 insects - have been harmless aquatic species from close by rivers and backyard mosquito control streams, fish meals within the aquatic food chain. Many of the others were parasitic wasps and beetles that naturally prey on mosquitoes. Mosquitoes will not be fooled by zappers as a result of, along with other bloodsucking insects, they have evolved to residence in on animals’ exhaled carbon dioxide, not ultraviolet gentle, scientists say. Even if mosquitoes are drawn in by a bug zapper, they’ll immediately redirect their attention to their favourite foods: warmblooded mammals, particularly humans. And Colorado State University’s extension service has reached the identical conclusion: “No managed scientific examine has proven that these units cut back mosquito killer biting charges outdoors,” it states on its web site. None responded with materials supporting their claims after a number of inquiries.

Black and Decker referred all inquiries to a contract manufacturer, which additionally didn’t respond. These claims not solely mislead patrons by ignoring scientific evidence, backyard mosquito control however they may create a false sense of safety for individuals who use these gadgets to protect against mosquito zapper-borne diseases within the United States, Fordyce stated. “If one wish to avoid being bit, a repellent is the answer,” he says. “Even if zappers labored … The FTC, while not commenting on the companies’ advertising statements, noted that it had investigated misleading statements and safety points in the past issuing warning letters and filing cases against manufacturers of different varieties of pest control, corresponding to ultrasonic devices. FTC officials advisable the general public submit any complaints by their web site. What does repel mosquitoes? Bug zappers are simply one in all many suspect merchandise promising to get rid of biting insects: ultrasonic devices, propane-fired CO2 traps, and pesticide misters are amongst these that do not work, or do extra harm than good, in line with Texas A&M.