The Futility of Bug Zappers for Mosquito Control

Perhaps you recall the gratifying snap, crackle, and pop of the bug zapper at your house when you were a child. Seems everyone had a bug light by their back door in the eighties, and they have made a modern comeback!

About two million bug zappers are sold each year in the United States alone. What harm can a bug zapper really do? For those, who wish to rid their yards of bugs, it seems a legitimate solution – one for which we have have tangible, real-time proof that it’s working. An online search will yield hundreds of models, each touting its own effectiveness for the money invested. There are certain things you will not find in product literature, which might make you think twice before buying a bug zapper.

Bug zappers do not provide effective Grafton mosquito control.

Studies have shown bug zappers to be essentially ineffective as a mosquito control option. For one summer season, a study estimated that a maximum of 6% of the bugs that met their untimely demise in a bug light, were mosquitoes. Another study noted that less than 1% of the mosquitoes killed in backyard electrocution lights were female mosquitoes – the ones that are dangerous to humans and animals. This is due to the fact that female mosquitoes are not as attracted to light as they are to humans. The main way they utilize light is to navigate in the dark, but they do not seek light. They seek carbon dioxide emissions from humans, pets, and livestock. If you provide a light for them to find their way to your door, you might notice more mosquitoes close to your home and more mosquito bites.

Bug zappers kill lots of good insects.

The types of insects that are more attracted to UV light produced by bug zappers are non-biting. The lights do not do what we hope – kill mosquitoes or biting flies. What’s more, the vast numbers of those “good bugs” killed by bug lights are necessary for birds and other animals to feed. For this reason, songbird populations are dwindling in many suburban areas, where bug zapping devices are prevalently used. There is evidence to suggest that they play a role in disruption of pollination, and the ecosystem at large.

If it’s mosquito protection you seek, don’t count on a bug zapper. For effective Grafton mosquito control, choose Mosquito Squad of Franklin-Framingham, guaranteed protection since 2005! Call us today at (978) 234-2367.