I started up my Mosquito Magnet Pro tonight....

fracmeister

fracmeister

Petroleum Engineer
Joined
May 26, 1999
Messages
1,686
Yep, I bought one. Ebay for 995.00 so it had better be VERY good. I started it up about 7:30 tonight so I'll report about weekly and let you know how them skeeters are doing. We are really just getting them. Of course, where I live it is too HOT and HUMID for most of the mosquitoes! They prefer a cooler, dryer climate!
 
I have been using a mosquito vac for about four weeks. My wife used to get about 10 bites during our coffee and visit time. They never bothered me, just her and the baby. She has not had a bite in about two weeks. I don't find any bugs to speak of in the bag, but something is happening to them. If this continues, it will be money well spent.
 
I don't need to spend 995.00 on a Mosquito Magnet. I am a mosquito magnet.

Walking down and back up the trail yesterday I couldn't believe how many attacked me. (We have a muddy trail with standing water, and a muddy drainage ditch in the woods alongside it.) I just kept swatting steadily, slapping around my head and arms with my hat. Bites, bites, bites. There's got to be a better way. I need some kind of repellent before I clear the breeding area with a flamethrower!
 
Originally posted by sky
(snip) I don't find any bugs to speak of in the bag, but something is happening to them.
Click to expand...

Well, I am definitely seeing skeeters in the bag, I'd say two dozen overnight. After 12 hours it works out to about 40$ per mosquito so this clip needs to be maintained for some time to make it a decent investment. The propane is supposed to last 3 weeks and I'll try to get a photograph posted of the "bugs obtained" at that time. Even the lady who sold it to me said that the other Mosquito Magnet brand product (the Liberty) was a pain to use and didn;t work as well. This thing is a piece of cake and is off to a good (albeit costly) start.
 
Anyone see the Sonic Web infomercial? It's suppose to be a decoy for mosquitos and other bugs. It simulates the heartbeat, smell, and heat of an animal. When a mosquito gets close to it, it sticks to a sticky dealy, much like a spider's web, and cannot get off. A propane trap's "lure" will change direction with the wind, which is supposedly not good. The Sonic Web is only 150USD but if you catch it with the commercial, you get fifty bucks off.
 
Does this unit come on wheels? Just this morning on the Today program, they showed a comparison (Consumer Report) of I believe 3 different units compared against a 'zapper' type unit. They said that the 3 units worked better than the 'zapper' but they liked the unit that was on wheels best (propane tank, etc.). I think they said it went for about $595? Mosquitoes don't seem to enjoy my blood (probably because of all the medication) but I know my dog gets eaten up!
 
Yes it does. Link is here. Hard to see the wheels but it has two on the back. I/m out of town for afew days. This one does seem to outperform the zappers and so forth. We'll see.
 
i beg to differ about the temperature and humidity
here, it's 32 celcius and >90 rh and the damn buggers bite me all the time :mad:
 
Only 32 C and 90% humidity? Watch out, all of the tourists from Houston are headed your way brother!

I actually believe that Memphis Tennessee in August is the most humidly miserable place on earth and I spent a month in the Okeefenokee swamp in 1971. It was pleasant compared to Memphis.

I loved Singapore however. I even took my wife there the second time. Rather overcivilized in parts, but the energy level is pretty impressive.
 
Bad news on the Mosquito Magnet for those with Asian Tiger mosquito's... the attractant (Octenol) is actually a repellent for the Asian Tigers. The Mosquito Magnet people are working on a replacement attractant but the first round was only a minor success.

If you have Asian Tigers, you have to either:
1. live with them
2. clean out the little nozzle with alcohol and run Magnet w/o attractant which significantly reduces effectiveness. Mosquito's are drawn near by the CO2, but may not get near enough to the suction at the nozzle (where attractant is) to get drawn into the little net.
3. Spray other poisons around in your yard to nail them.

Asian Tigers are one of the few mosquito's that fly around and are aggressive during broad daylight. This is a problem because the mosquito spray trucks only run at night ... during the day the poison fumes they emit pretty much go straight up into the hot sky, but the poison is a contacting poison, i.e. the mosquito needs to make contact with it (typically while flying, at night). So the Asian Tigers get somewhat of a reprieve from the spray trucks since the best way is to spray while they are out flying. (not sure why they escape totally... they have to rest/light somewhere... seems like spray would get them as they rest, but anyway, that's the way I read the story).

Also, the mosquito spray truck is typically only effective on the sides of your house that are adjacent to the street where they spray. I.e., for most people, the back yard is not aided by the spray trucks.
 
ATMs
Adults are known as tiger mosquitoes due to their conspicuous patterns of very black bodies with white stripes. Also, there is a distinctive single white band (stripe) down the length of the back. The body length is about 3/16-inch long. Like all adult mosquitoes, Asian tiger mosquitoes are small, fragile insects with slender bodies, one pair of narrow wings (tiny scales are attached to wing veins), and three pairs of long, slender legs. They have an elongate proboscis (beak) with which the female bites and feeds on blood, while males feed only on plant nectar. Eggs are elongate, usually 1/40-inch long, and dark brown to black near hatching. Larvae (wigglers) are filter feeders that move with an S-shaped motion. Pupae (tumblers) are comma-shaped, appearing to tumble through the water when disturbed.

Fortunately I am not seeing these in NW Houston (yet). They were first observed in Houston in 1985 and have since spread out to 25
states.

These babies are worse than "fantasy knives"
 
Sorry to say, but it's probably only a matter of time, Fracmeister.

I live near the corner of Memorial & Eldridge, and we have a bevy of the Asian Tigers. Probably 3:1 over the Culex (I think the other prolific one in my neighborhood is the Culex).

The worst part about Asian Tigers is their aggressiveness during broad daylight hours in addition to early morning and dusk. Sheesh. Couple that with a Culex population that is out at night, and it's 24/7.

Even when I am "mostly moving" outside, I can take a 5 minute spin through the backyard and come back with 2-4 bites from the little striped boogers. I don't seem to be able to feel them biting me... either because I'm getting older and my nerves are less sensitive, or they just don't hit you with the itchy feeling or have finer mouthparts than regular ol' Missouri mosquito's.
:grumpy:
 
Besides the ordinary mosquito I am catching a LOT of little tiny insects... I guess they are the "no see ums" but they are being trapped by the hundreds... all of which adds up to almost nothing.
 
One of the benefits I suppose of working in a refinery is that mosquitos don't bother me nearly as much as they used to.:eek:

I live out towards Katy and we had a few West Nile cases earlier in the year but I haven't heard of any additional reports. These cases were all birds, not people.

C Wilkins
 
WOW:eek: You guys are some heavy duty bug eliminators!! I got with the $4 Citronella Candle, but I suppose a $1000 Propane powered bug killer would work too :p
 
Citronella candle? Man yoy have got to see these babies. We had a few dozen mosquitoes trapped in our cabin -- after a few hours with fumigators and fly swappers we injured three of them. We are talking about a highly evolved creature.
 
Citronella? The Gulf Coast skeeters laugh in it's general direction (to misappropriate a John Cleese-ism).

The skeeters in south Texas (near the Gulf, where it's super humid, i.e., saturated air mass much of the time) are certainly capable of surviving in large numbers and of growing to significant size.

I.e., they are aggressive about getting their meal and procreating. The Asian Tigers... man... they are a true menace, what with being out a big fraction of the day looking for a bloodmeal.

Even a few are out during dry spells (we only had 0.06" of rain in May), probably sustained by the water held up in the storm drains.

But man, when it rains, a whole crop of the tiny yet very durable eggs, thusly nourished by mother nature's nectar (rain), will hatch and commence to feed within a day or two, and reproduce another batch of the tiny spreaders of the West Nile. Near pestilence I tell you.

Minnesota is supposed to be legendary for mosquito's, but I suspect it isn't any worse than the Gulf Coast. Cain't be.
 
rdangerer is correct about Citronella! I've seen Jersey mosquitos swoop down and carry many a container of Citronella away! :D I think they feed it to their young larva. Don't think we have the Asian Tigers yet but I'm keepin' a Bowie knife handy to fight 'em off!
 
Just FYI:

I work at a health department. Here is a link http://www.healthdept.org/nile.htm to a page on our website where we have established a number of links related to the West Nile Virus and mosquitoes. The last link talks about products for effective mosquito control.

Please let me know what you think and of any suggestions for improvement.

Thanks!
 
The links do discuss a few effective (or potentially effective) methods such as DEET. Mainly it debunks a lot of ineffective approaches. I do think that the larvae eating fish and general removal of breeding habitat are the best overall approaches. I can tell you that I am catching a LOT of skeeters in the MM Pro!
 
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