On Tuesday, March 19, 2019 at 8:47:48 AM UTC-4, Tim R wrote:

This is very old data, it's what the grad student working on his dissertation on mosquitos told me in college, and that was 1971. So there may be newer info, or he may have been wrong.

That the data is old does not make it inaccurate. What has changed is how refined modern mosquito traps operate - which is by a combination of CO2 and heat - just like warm-blooded prey; and how repellents have also been refined.

DEET (N,N-Diethyl-meta-toluamide) does, in fact, confuse the mosquito such that it has a hard time landing in order to bite. And in sufficient concentration (actual contact) it will kill them. But, it and many other oils such as eucalyptus, pennyroyal and similar do have actual repellent properties - mosquitoes do actually hate the smell. As the non-DEET materials do not cause confusion, they are poor substitutes in actual practice.

By the way, all the modern traps do is act like a REALLY BIG and attractive lure - and so should be placed some considerable distance, and slightly downwind of the area to be protected. Otherwise, they will act as an invitation to the party.

And, we have Metofluthrin these days, which is a pyrethroid (plant-based) neurotoxin that is a specialized repellent pretty much only for mosquitoes.

Point being that none of this makes bug zappers any more benign.

Peter Wieck
Melrose Park, PA