Comments on: Mosquitos suck

Question: Mosquitos suck

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:03:27 -0800

Mysterious mosquito attacks within a small living space...

We seem to get bitten once every other night, and can kill a mosquito or two once a night. Itching and scratching are getting tedious.

The thing is, we have a really small apartment where it seems impossible to have open, stagnant sources of water. We do, however, have vents in the bathroom, living room and bedroom where we have seen mosquitoes.

• Is it possible for central air vents (running cool air) to contain pockets of water (condensation) to allow mosquitoes to breed?

• How can I phrase my help request with the landlord, in such a way that the problem can be fixed? Taking apart the vents is probably not workable, I assume.

• Failing that, is there a way to kill these pests without chemically treating the apartment?

By: markesh

markesh — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:08:35 -0800

I got myself this small battery operated device that you live on during the night. It drives away mosquitoes for some reason. Very effective, I must add.

By: undercoverhuwaaah

undercoverhuwaaah — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:11:34 -0800

Markesh, what is it? I've got the same problem as above (without exposed vents, no less!) and would really appreciate an easy solution to constant itchy bites.

By: breaks the guidelines?

breaks the guidelines? — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:52:17 -0800

Mosquitos are attracted to CO₂. You can create a trap by wrapping a plastic bottle in black paper, culturing some live bread yeast in warm water inside, and inverting a paper cone into the bottle neck.

The bread yeast will produce a small amount of CO₂ as they respire. Mosquitos will fly down into the cone and drown in the water.

By: breaks the guidelines?

breaks the guidelines? — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 12:53:46 -0800

(search for "DIY mosquito trap" for various instructions)

By: R. Mutt

R. Mutt — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:02:18 -0800

A friend who rented an old house in San Antonio had a similar problem. He was going crazy trying to find how the mosqutos were getting into the house. Then one day, in the shower, he looked down and realized he could see gravel through the shower drain opening. Sure enough, the shower drain was open to the underside of the house, not to the pipe.

By: bluefrog

bluefrog — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 14:21:08 -0800

Another simple solution: a few feet of mosquito netting (fine metal mesh) and duck tape to cover the vents. If it solves the problem, then you know where they come from.

By: lester's sock puppet

lester's sock puppet — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 19:01:48 -0800

are you sure it's mosquitoes? it might be fleas, bedbugs or something else. if it is mosquitoes, check to see how big they are--mosquitoes actually feed off of plant juices, and if they're really tiny, then they aren't getting enough plant food. tiny mosquitoes = bred in apartment. big mosquitoes = bred outside.

By: srt19170

srt19170 — Tue, 24 Jul 2007 07:18:21 -0800

I've never had great success with the DIY mosquito traps, but this:

http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001727.php

seems to get good reviews. I haven't tried it yet myself.