How To: DIY Mosquito Trap

Learn How to Make a DIY Mosquito Trap & Fight The Bite This Season

One of the best DIY hacks to defeat mosquitoes is to create a DIY mosquito trap. This would be great during a camping trip or family picnic! The concept is simple: lure the mosquitoes in with carbon dioxide (created by a yeast mixture) then trap them so they can’t escape and breed more mosquitoes.

This DIY trap takes about 15 minutes to make. You can use the same mosquito trap all season, just replace the yeast mixture every time you use it. Kids can even join in the fun of making this naturaltrap (except for the box cutter and hot water).

Let’s get started at making your own DIY mosquito trap!

Step 1

For the first step, you’ll need:

• A plastic bottle (a 2-liter works well, but any kind would do)
• Hot water
• A marker
• Box cutter
• Tape (duct, scotch, or electrical)
• Yeast (1 gram – grocery stores carry packets of active yeast in the baking aisle)
• Brown sugar (1/4 cup)

Step 2

Make a mark half-way down the plastic bottle. For our plastic bottle, this was about 4 inches from the top of the lid.

Step 3

Draw a circle around the bottle. This will serve as a cutting guide for the rest of the DIY mosquito trap.

Step 4

With your box cutter, carefully cut the bottle in half with small sawing motions. The edges of the cut plastic will be sharp, so please use caution.

Step 5

Heat up 1 to 1 1/3 cup of hot water either in the stove or microwave. When you see steam form, it’s hot enough! Carefully pour the hot water into the bottom of the plastic bottle.

Step 6

Add ¼ cup of brown sugar to the water in the plastic bottle and stir. Let the sugar water mixture cool for about 20 minutes. This sugar is what activates the yeast to start creating carbon dioxide.

Step 7

Add the packet of active yeast to the cooled water and sugar mixture. No need to stir. You should see some bubbling – this is a good sign that the mixture smells really delicious to mosquitoes!

Step 8

Assemble the mosquito trap. Turn the top of the bottle upside down and place it (lid down) inside the bottom half of the bottle. It should look a little like a funnel. The mosquitoes will come in through this funnel then not be able to escape back out of it. Use the tape to seal the edge of the plastic bottle.

Ta-da! You’re done!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy some buzz-free peace in the outdoors with your DIY mosquito trap!

For mosquito problems that can't be easily fixed with a homemade trap, turn to the professionals at Mosquito Squad. We provide effective mosquito control services across the country.