Mosquito killer

[George Jefferson]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

I was thinking about making an device that could kill them. I guess it's
probably no better than a bug zapper.

The idea is that since they, supposedly, are attracted to CO2, to make a
bucket with an inverted code with a hole at the bottom. The mosquitos find
there way to the hole which is releasing CO2 then go instead. The gas is
trapped at the top of the inverted cone which should kill them.


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They probably already make this sorta thing but it seems like it would be
something rather easy and very cheap and one could place several of them
throughout the property which is more efficient than just one or two
zappers. The gas would allow one to increase the opening hole size which
might be more effective.

Seems they already have many of these types of devices. Most don't use the
gas. Probably not necessary. Do these devices work well? I can get a small
cylinder of CO2 and rig something up quite easily if it's worth doing.

 

[Martin Brown]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

HF (too reactive), NH3 (too soluble) or HCN but only by a tiny amount.
It is also deadly to most other forms of life. Expect a visit from
homeland insecurity and free accommodation in some hell hole if you try
to buy it.

I was thinking about making an device that could kill them. I guess it's
probably no better than a bug zapper.

The idea is that since they, supposedly, are attracted to CO2, to make a
bucket with an inverted code with a hole at the bottom. The mosquitos
find there way to the hole which is releasing CO2 then go instead. The
gas is trapped at the top of the inverted cone which should kill them.


|\ /|
| \ / |
| |
-------

They probably already make this sorta thing but it seems like it would
be something rather easy and very cheap and one could place several of
them throughout the property which is more efficient than just one or
two zappers. The gas would allow one to increase the opening hole size
which might be more effective.

Seems they already have many of these types of devices. Most don't use
the gas. Probably not necessary. Do these devices work well? I can get a
small cylinder of CO2 and rig something up quite easily if it's worth
doing.

Pheromone bait will work considerably better. Electric traps make a
satisfying frying noise when the creature meets its end.

There are plenty of reviews of existing designs online.

Regards,
Martin Brown

 

[Robert Roland]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

Helium. It's not poisonous, but it displaces air, so that anything
needing oxygen would suffocate. It does, of course, require the
concentration to be kept really high inside your trap.

 

[amdx]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

I was thinking about making an device that could kill them. I guess it's
probably no better than a bug zapper.

The idea is that since they, supposedly, are attracted to CO2, to make a
bucket with an inverted code with a hole at the bottom. The mosquitos find
there way to the hole which is releasing CO2 then go instead. The gas is
trapped at the top of the inverted cone which should kill them.


|\ /|
| \ / |
| |
-------

They probably already make this sorta thing but it seems like it would be
something rather easy and very cheap and one could place several of them
throughout the property which is more efficient than just one or two
zappers. The gas would allow one to increase the opening hole size which
might be more effective.

Seems they already have many of these types of devices. Most don't use the
gas. Probably not necessary. Do these devices work well? I can get a small
cylinder of CO2 and rig something up quite easily if it's worth doing.

I like the inverted cone idea, I'm in Fl. and the local mosquito control
uses dry ice
(solid CO2) in their traps to attract the mosquitos.
The density of air is 1.20 kg/m^3 and CO2 is 1.8 kg/m^3 so you the trap
would
stay full of CO2, just allow enough CO2 flow to get some gas into the local
environment
to attract the mosquitos. Once they go in, there would be no oxygen and they
would die.
It seems from other products that the lights also attract the mosquitos, so
adding a light
around the top may increase the kill rate.
I think you'll need to experiment to optimize cone depth and angle. Maybe a
light outside
to get them to the trap and a light inside at the bottom of the hole to get
them inside.

(B)
| \ / |
| \ / | (B) is a mosquito attracting light.
| (B) |

 

[pimpom]

Pheromone bait will work considerably better. Electric traps
make a
satisfying frying noise when the creature meets its end.

We have Chinese-made 'mosquito fryers' here. They are shaped like
a tennis racket, use a rechargable battery and produce a really
satisfying crackle when you swipe a mosquito. It comes with a
flashlight on the handle, pointing sideways in the direction of a
swipe and costs about US $4.

 

[Spehro Pefhany]

We have Chinese-made 'mosquito fryers' here. They are shaped like
a tennis racket, use a rechargable battery and produce a really
satisfying crackle when you swipe a mosquito. It comes with a
flashlight on the handle, pointing sideways in the direction of a
swipe and costs about US $4.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40122

I think I've seen them for $1.99.

The fancy mosquito killers use propane:

http://www.amazon.com/Koolatron-Guardian-Shield-Propane-Mosquito/dp/B001P6E2UC

 

[Dirk Bruere at NeoPax]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

I was thinking about making an device that could kill them. I guess it's
probably no better than a bug zapper.

The idea is that since they, supposedly, are attracted to CO2, to make a
bucket with an inverted code with a hole at the bottom. The mosquitos
find there way to the hole which is releasing CO2 then go instead. The
gas is trapped at the top of the inverted cone which should kill them.


|\ /|
| \ / |
| |
-------

They probably already make this sorta thing but it seems like it would
be something rather easy and very cheap and one could place several of
them throughout the property which is more efficient than just one or
two zappers. The gas would allow one to increase the opening hole size
which might be more effective.

Seems they already have many of these types of devices. Most don't use
the gas. Probably not necessary. Do these devices work well? I can get a
small cylinder of CO2 and rig something up quite easily if it's worth
doing.

http://www.physorg.com/news156423566.html

 

[D Yuniskis]

Is there a chemical deadly to mosquitos that is lighter than air?

I was thinking about making an device that could kill them. I guess it's
probably no better than a bug zapper.

The idea is that since they, supposedly, are attracted to CO2, to make a
bucket with an inverted code with a hole at the bottom. The mosquitos
find there way to the hole which is releasing CO2 then go instead. The
gas is trapped at the top of the inverted cone which should kill them.


|\ /|
| \ / |
| |
-------

They probably already make this sorta thing but it seems like it would
be something rather easy and very cheap and one could place several of
them throughout the property which is more efficient than just one or
two zappers. The gas would allow one to increase the opening hole size
which might be more effective.

Seems they already have many of these types of devices. Most don't use
the gas. Probably not necessary. Do these devices work well? I can get a
small cylinder of CO2 and rig something up quite easily if it's worth
doing.

Commercially available units tend to burn propane to form the gas.
We had thought of buying one or two for use in the back yard
until realizing the horrendous waste of propane involved
(why not just put an outdoor grill out there and set the
gas to the "leak" setting! :> )

It is very dry here. So, eliminating standing water does
wonders for controlling the mosquito population. (OTOH,
if you leave a bucket of water outside, it is amazing to see
how quickly the larvae develop! look like little *eels*
swimming in the bucket!)

Also, being indoors at "mosquito time" helps a lot.
The little ladies like it relatively cool when "hunting".

At scout camp, we took the "manly" approach to controlling
the pests: a 4G pressure vessel mounted to the hood of
an army surplus (of course) Jeep spraying pesticide onto
the hot manifold (i.e. a 1.5 ton "fogger"). I wonder how
many of us will end up with lung cancer or some other
malady attributable to this high exposure to pesticides??
<frown>

(of course, the approach was entirely ineffective. You
need *tons* of juice to cover hundreds of wooded acres :< )