A lot of the negative feedback you’ll see for mosquito traps is because new owners didn’t use them properly!

Mosquito traps don’t REPEL mosquitos, these machines ATTRACT the mosquitos and then kill them. It also takes a while for them to lure and kill a large local population. Buying a mosquito catcher in the afternoon and putting the unit in the middle of your big neighborhood barbeque that same night is a sure recipe for turning your party into an itchy, buggy disaster!

A mosquito machine should be placed a good distance from where people are congregating (ideally, 35′ or more), preferably upwind. Place mosquito traps on the perimeters of your yard, not in the middle of your activity area, and set them to run 24/7 or at least daily during peak insect activity times (dawn and dusk) at first. After several days they will have begun to kill off the existing colonies and you’ll be well on your way to a mosquito-free yard!  Source

Here’s a mosquito trap that may rightfully be called sexist.  

The “MozziQuit”, developed by Ignatius Noronha, a Mangalore based innovator, attracts and kills female mosquitoes to stop them from breeding.

Noronha was working for an American manufacturing plant in Saudi Arabia until he set upon his new mission of developing a cost effective device to kill mosquitoes.

Explaining the science behind attracting mosquitoes, he said, “Mosquitoes normally detect human presence based on the carbon dioxide we exhale. 

There is a special additive I have added to the device, which attracts the mosquitoes.”

Read more  http://www.ptinews.com/news/495138_Eco-friendly-mosquito-traps-to-hit-markets-soon

A mosquito trap captures and kills biting mosquitoes, significantly reducing the flying parasite population in your yard. This allows you, your family, and your friends to enjoy your backyard safely once again.

Mosquitos are drawn to the carbon dioxide (CO2) people exhale so if you breathe, you’re an attractive target for a mosquito. Some mosquito traps attract these flying pests by emitting CO2 gas or using lures mosquitoes find attractive.  And once attracted, they’re trapped, then die. 
Get them before they get you!  Read more http://mosquitotraps.net/

Washington, (IANS) Researchers have come up with the cheapest and most efficient way so far to trap adult mosquitoes and the deadly diseases they carry, from malaria to the West Nile Virus.

Emory University (E-U) has filed a provisional patent on the Prokopack mosquito aspirator, which uses a battery-powered motor to suck up live mosquitoes for analysis.

In both field and lab tests, Prokopack outperformed the current gold standard for resting mosquito surveillance – the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention Backpack Aspirator (CDC-BP).

Mosquito-borne diseases rank among the world’s top killers, and Vazquez-Prokopec, inventor and a post-doctoral researcher in environmental studies, hopes that more affordable and efficient surveillance methods will help save lives.  Read more @ http://www.india-forums.com/news/article.asp?id=221748

According to Elizabeth (Biz) Collins of the North Fork Mosquito Abatement District, it’s almost unheard of to have an all-volunteer trapping program. But that is exactly what was accomplished this past season in the North Fork, and hopefully with more volunteers, can be expanded next season.

Volunteer have to set out the traps and pick them up at specific times. The traps, due to the life of the batteries, need to be set out between 5 and 7 p.m. and picked up between 7 and 8 the next morning. If the traps are picked up late or set out too early, the batteries fail and the mosquitoes can escape making the sample useless.

Trappers donate their time, cars and gas. They receive no reimbursements for their work. After the crew was laid off for the season due to a shortfall in tax revenue, the district had their first case of mosquitoes with West Nile Virus.

The volunteer program has grown from two people in 2008 to eight volunteers by the end of that season. In 2009 up to 13 people volunteered. For 2010, the volunteer program is aiming to grow to 20 people.

Awareness of mosquito-borne illness is on the rise, and you may be worried that insect repellents alone may be insufficient to protect you and your family, especially in your own backyard. A mosquito trap might be the answer. It’s a device that eliminates mosquitoes rather than simply repelling them.

How Mosquito Traps Work
Rather than keeping mosquitoes away from an area and the people in it, mosquito traps work by attracting the pests to the area and then killing them. Mosquito traps emit a combination of carbon dioxide, and octenol (a chemical attractant) that lures mosquitoes, who mistake the scent of the two substances for human breath.

Don’t expect immediate results from a mosquito trap. It takes about 7 to 10 days for a mosquito trap to thin out an established population. During that time, you’ll need to rely on mosquito repellants for maximum protection. If you see fewer mosquitoes around and you’re catching fewer in the mosquito trap, you know you’re winning the battle.

Added Advice
The American Mosquito Control Association (AMCA) reports that the science behind mosquito traps is solid and that mosquito traps perform “very well” in scientific trials. How well a mosquito trap performs in your yard is a question of proper maintenance, the number of mosquito sources and the species of mosquitoes that plagues you.

User reviews of mosquito traps can be helpful, but make sure to read reviews from people who live in your state or near your home, as they’re likely dealing with the same species of mosquito that you have.

Read more at http://www.life123.com/home-garden/landscaping/grubs/choose-the-best-mosquito-trap.shtml

Colombo: Sri Lanka’s Health Ministry has taken immediate preventive measures to combat Dengue fever, which started to spread again with recent heavy rains, Ministry sources said. Changes in current weather have resulted in several deaths inflicted by the Dengue virus, sources added.

The Ministry has alerted the local institutions and the public to clean their surroundings periodically, to prevent the breeding of mosquitoes carrying the dengue virus in stagnant water collected in discarded containers such as plastic cups, used tires, broken bottles, flower pots, etc.

Prevention of mosquito bites is another way of preventing the disease, the health officials advised. This can be achieved by using insect repellents, mosquito traps, or mosquito nets. 

Source: http://www.colombopage.com/archive_091/Nov1258472245RA.html

The widespread flooding that has closed roads and blocked people from their homes has also given a new lease on life to mosquitoes.

Shannon Rider, interim director of the Ouachita Parish Mosquito Abatement District, said the parish has seen a mosquito population higher than normal for this time of year because of the swollen rivers and bayous across northeastern Louisiana.  As it does every year, district staff pulled mosquito traps that tested positive for the West Nile virus, but the positive results didn’t come until late June.

“The trap counts are actually low. but we know they are higher than for normal for the fall,” Rider said. “These numbers have been continually the same since the rain started. Right now we’re still spraying with our trucks and waiting to see what happens when water goes down.”

The  mosquito season has been especially long this year. In the spring, unseasonably warm temperatures brought an early start and the region’s standing water has extended it into November.

Apart from the region drying out, a cold snap could solve the lingering mosquito problem, Rider said. “The temperature varies, depending on the species, but a freeze would definitely help. If no new eggs hatch, what the trucks don’t get, the adults die of old age. we’ll just go into the normal fall or winter season.”

The National Weather Service does not forecast freezing temperatures for the next 10 days.  Read More http://www.thenewsstar.com/article/20091106/UPDATES01/91106046

Science Blog: Scientists at the University of California, Davis, have identified the dominant odor naturally produced in humans and birds that attracts the blood-feeding Culex mosquitoes, which transmit West Nile virus and other life-threatening diseases.

Entomology professor Walter Leal and postdoctoral researcher Zain Syed found that nonanal (sounds like NAWN-uh-nawl) is the powerful semiochemical that triggers the mosquitoes’ keen sense of smell, directing them toward a blood meal. A semiochemical is a chemical substance or mixture that carries a message.

Leal and Syed found that nonanal acts synergistically with carbon dioxide, a known mosquito attractant. “We baited mosquito traps with a combination of nonanal and carbon dioxide and we were drawing in as many as 2,000 a night in Yolo County, near Davis,” Syed said. “Nonanal, in combination with carbon dioxide, increased trap captures by more than 50 percent, compared to traps baited with carbon dioxide alone.”  Read more @ http://www.scienceblog.com/cms/uc-davis-researchers-identify-dominant-chemical-attracts-mosquitoes-humans-26628.html

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has announced 76 grants of US$100,000 each to pursue ideas for transforming health in developing countries.  The grants, under a programme known as Grand Challenges Exploration, support researchers across 16 countries, including nine in Europe and Africa with ideas as diverse as using the power of sunlight to kill malaria-causing mosquito larvae and developing a device that repels mosquitoes without insecticides.

Mr Fredros Okumu of Ifakara Health Institute, a Kenyan based in Tanzania, is one of the winners.  His research is within the “Create new tools to accelerate the eradication of malaria” category.

As malaria-transmitting mosquitoes spend a greater part of their lives outside human dwellings than inside, Mr Okumu is looking to fabricate outdoor decoy sites to attract and trap breeding, resting and feeding mosquitoes.

They will then develop a location model to guide optimal placement of the devices, and conduct a village trial to test the efficacy of the decoys in reducing malaria transmission.   Read more @ http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/-/1066/676456/-/135nm4qz/-/