[ale] WAY OT controlling asian tiger mosquitos and others

[Ron Frazier (ALE)]

Hi all,

I appreciate all the tips you furnished regarding dealing with 
mosquitoes.  I decided to reply to all in mass rather than creating 
multiple separate messages.  If you have more tips, feel free to mention 
them.

Here are the primary techniques that were mentioned:

FANS: Mentioned by Scott P, Pete H, and Allen B - This sounds 
interesting, and potentially cheap and effective.  Might have to try 
it.  I have a fairly strong floor fan that I might just set on the 
sidewalk and point it toward my folding chair.  As Spock would say, 
"fascinating".  I have a ceiling fan in the living room that normally is 
on low but I could turn to high.  I think I'd rather kill them if 
they're indoors.

PHOTONIC FENCE: Scott P - I'd love to have one, as long as the 
microcontroller doesn't have "bugs" of its own.  To bad it doesn't 
exist.  Perhaps you could make the fence grid itself out of sweeping 
high powered lasers.  Just crossing the fence plane would kill an insect 
(good or bad).  Also, don't let your cat walk through.  Maybe put chain 
link on either side to control the bigger animals without injuring them.

BAT INFO, BCI GROUP: William B - That's cool info to know.  Given that 
it may not help much, I think I'll defer the bat house for now.

30% DEET: JD - That's one I'll use as a last resort if I have to be 
among all the bugs.  I hate having stuff on my skin though.

STANDING WATER, SMALL STANDING WATER, MOSQUITO BITS: JD, Jim K, Greg C - 
I went and got some Mosquito Bits at Home Depot.  The same company also 
makes a longer lasting product called Mosquito Dunks.  Definitely going 
to have to try this, as well as removing water where possible.  That's 
hard to do though.  I didn't know they'd breed in such small spaces.

BUG ZAPPERS: JD - Based on my reading, I don't think the light based 
units do much to mosquitoes.  However, while at Home Depot, I picked up 
one of the Stinger bug zapper "tennis rackets".  You push the switch, 
touch the bug, and it dies.  I'm not inviting them in to test it, but I 
touched a pair of scissors to the grid and got a satisfying arc and 
pop.  I won't be waving it around in the shrubs either, but if they're 
in my living space, and if I can get to them, they're toast.  This unit 
looks to be higher quality than the cheapo ones you see at dime stores.  
The unit plus 8 Raovac "C" cells was about $ 20.  The Stinger takes 2 
cells, so I have some spares.

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Stinger-Bug-Zapper-Racket-BKR200/203645622

AIR DOOR / AIR CURTAIN: Jim K, Ron F - I did a very brief bit of 
googling.  These can be very effective in keeping out bugs and outside 
air.  Pretty pricey though.  36" units seem to run $ 200 - $ 600.  Most 
home buyers would think it's ugly.  I'd want to mount it outside the 
front door, which might drive up the cost.  I'd click it on 5 sec before 
I leave to clear the doorway, then let it time out and turn off.  I'd 
use the remote to turn it back on before I enter.  Think I'll defer this 
and try to handle any intruders with my zapper racket.  If I had some 
money to burn, the air curtain is something I might try, as long as I 
could remove it later.

MOSQUITO MAGNET: Adrya S, Ron F - Statements about unreliability seem to 
confirm what I was reading.  Think I'll skip this too.

PREDATORY MOSQUITO: John P - Interesting to know.  I presume the 
predatory mosquitoes don't attack humans.  But, then your animals are at 
risk I assume.  Not a DIY project.

CEDARCIDE BEST YET: Allen B - This is another very interesting idea.  I 
might try this in preference to DEET if I have to put something on skin.

PURPLE MARTINS / GOURDS: Greg C - I find this interesting as well and 
might consider trying it.

If I missed any, know that I appreciate those tips too.  Here are a few 
observations and wild ideas I had.

OFF BELT CLIP FAN REPELLANT - Read the label.  Lots of warnings about 
how toxic it is and not to touch, eat, or breath the vapor.  Feature 
list says something to the effect that it produces a vapor shell around 
you to repel the bugs.  Little bit of a conflict of interest there.  I 
decided to skip this one.

HOT SHOT / SHELL NO PEST STRIPS - Read the label.  Some of you may 
remember seeing these hanging in barns, sheds, and maybe even houses.  
Some of you may have used them.  They used to be a yellow rubbery strip 
that you put in a cardboard case with holes and hang up.  We had these 
in our house at times in my childhood and there were no bugs in the 
house.  HOWEVER, IF YOU REALLY SEARCH THE LABEL, IT SAYS NOT TO BE USED 
WHERE AN AREA IS INHABITED FOR MORE THAN 4 HR PER DAY.  One reviewer on 
Amazon says the main ingredient is a neurotoxin that is harmful to 
mammals over a period of time.  One reviewer says cats go psycho after 
being exposed to this on flea collars after a while.  One reviewer says 
he hangs them in a kindergarten class room.  That's a bit scary.

I don't know if the forgoing negative effects are true, but here is the 
database entry for the product from the Health and Human Services 
department of the government:

The chemical involved is DDVP.

http://householdproducts.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/household/brands?tbl=brands&id=19020075

My application would be for a living space, so I'm not going to use 
these products.

DRAGONFLYS - I had the wild thought to bring in a thousand dragonflys or 
something, but I don't know what the other side effects would be.

Well, that's the state of my research at the moment.  Thanks for all the 
tips.  Feel free to send more.

Sincerely,

Ron


On 7/30/2013 1:22 AM, Ron Frazier (ALE) wrote:
> Hi Guys,
>
> You've been warned, WAY OT.
>
> Don't flame me for posting this, but you guys are my geeky brain 
> trust, and you had a gardening thread going on recently, so I figured 
> I'd try it.
>
> I live on a wooded property and there are huge numbers of mosquitoes 
> around in the summer, particularly lately.  I think the main species 
> active in the day time may be the Asian Tiger Mosquito.  If we go 
> outside for more than 1-2 minutes, they're attacking with a 
> vengeance.  I don't know for sure if they're Asian Tigers, since I'm 
> too busy shewing, slapping, and moving to look closely at their 
> appearance.  But I do know those are much more active in daylight 
> hours than others; and I know I've occasionally seen their distinctive 
> striped appearance. 

-snip-


-- 

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Ron Frazier
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