Skeeter War

Summer's here, which means you've probably tried everything from sprays to citronellas to ward off mosquitoes. But if you're finding your B-12 supplements and dryer sheets aren't cutting it, you may want to try the following method, gleaned from Coolest Gadgets:



You've likely heard of a million gizmos that claim to repel mosquitoes with chemicals, ultrasound, or plain ol' scents. Here we’ve found a couple of contrasting approaches to mosquito control, depending on your budget!

The hi-tech solution (shown at top left) is the Mosquito Mega-Catch from Hammacher that uses flashing LEDs, pheromones, and ultra violet light to lure the blood-sucking insects towards the machine. As they get close, they’re sucked inside by a negative airflow. It’s been claimed that one of these machines devoured 1200 mosquitoes in a single night, and at $200 dollars this gadget’s not overly expensive.

Of course there are people for whom $200 is unthinkable, and these are most likely to be the people whose lives are threatened by the malaria parasite. The low-tech solution, developed and perfected by schoolchildren from Taiwan, uses a 2-liter soft drink bottle, filled with a sugar solution, to which yeast is added. The yeast ferments the sugar producing CO₂ gas that acts as a magnet for the mosquitoes. If the top of the bottle is cut off and replaced in an inverted position, the insects are trapped. The yeast will continue to produce CO₂ for two weeks.

Here are the DIY directions:

1. Cut the top of the bottle as shown in photo at top right.
2. Put 200ml hot water in the bottle, stir with 50gram brown sugar. Put the sugar water in cold water to cool it down til 40C (temperature)….
3. After cooling down, put the sugar water in the bottle then add the yeast. No need to mix the yeast with the sugar water. When yeast ferments, it creates carbon dioxide.
4. When you cut the bottle, dont throw the top part away because that’d be needed for step 4 – you see they put the top upside down to fit into the bottle….
5. Put black paper around the bottle since mosquitos like dark places and carbon dioxide. This mosquito trap will then start working. Mosquitos fly around the corner, so the best place to place the trap is at some dark corner.

DIY mosquito trap found via Neatorama. 
Mosquito Mega-Catch found via Ohgizmo and Uncrate.