[HN Gopher] Enhancement of mosquito trapping efficiency using pu...
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Enhancement of mosquito trapping efficiency using pulse width
modulated LEDs
Author : luu
Score : 51 points
Date : 2023-08-20 09:00 UTC (1 days ago)
(HTM) web link (www.nature.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (www.nature.com)
| psychphysic wrote:
| Remember that 2-32Hz is the hot zone for photosensitive epilepsy.
| willvarfar wrote:
| What are the best practical ways of keeping away or killing
| mosquitoes, midges, black fly and house flies etc?
|
| I've heard of propane burners called 'mosquito magnets', I've
| heard of chemicals you spread or leave out in traps, I've heard
| of sprays and tape. Obviously different things work for different
| pests. I've seen people wearing face nets and hoodies.
|
| Anyone got any real experience and recommendations?
| wintermutestwin wrote:
| Mosquito magnet here. The only trick I've used that worked was
| to move to a place that wasn't so infested.
|
| Sorry - I realize that isn't very helpful, but that was my real
| experience and solution. I really hope scientists figure out
| what makes some people more of a target. I wish that all of
| those best place to live rankings had mosquito population as
| part of their equation.
| dangom wrote:
| https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BhV-o77RqQ
| coreylane wrote:
| Effective Mosquito control requires attacking from multiple
| angles, consistency, and patience.
|
| - Bacillus thuringiensis (or Bt). This is the bacteria used in
| "Mosquito Dunks"
|
| - Garlic Barrier - I spray this all around my yard, trees, and
| bushes and works surprisingly well....
|
| - Thermacell products
|
| - A propane burning trap like Mosquito Magnet with an effective
| attractant, this can vary depending on your area and type of
| mosquito. - Removing certain types of vegetation, debris like
| dead leaves, etc. that attracts them.
| sylvainkalache wrote:
| Living in South Florida and I found these 2 methods to be
| efficient:
|
| -The propane burning traps about ten mosquitoes a day. It's
| an expensive setup. The SkeeterVac is $600, and a $20 propane
| tank will last a bit less than a month.
|
| -"Mosquito Dunks" or more specifically, BTI (Bacillus
| Thuringiensis Israelensis) has to be placed into standing
| water. Mosquitoes come to lay eggs that will die because of
| the BTI. I don't know how many it kills, but I've seen a
| demi-dozen of larvae in there at a time. Here I recommend
| going with the granules format as the chemical is powerful,
| and you don't need much of it for example if placed in a
| bucket. Better than having to deal with breaking down a big
| piece into smaller ones.
| jccooper wrote:
| A Bifen spray every month or so will work pretty well. I don't
| love it conceptually, because it's not super mosquito-specific,
| but it works.
| wffurr wrote:
| Eliminate standing water. Remove landscaping or vegetation that
| harbors them. Traps. Repellers (e.g. Thermacell). DEET spray
| and long clothing.
|
| We have an albopictus aka zebra aka Asian tiger mosquito
| infestation in our Massachusetts back yard. I found and dumped
| some standing water in the neighbor's yard. I ordered BG-GAT
| traps. We use a Thermacell when we go out there and it helps
| when we remember to set it up 15 min in advance. Considering
| removing our English ivy ground cover as it's a habitat for
| them.
| ilyt wrote:
| I remember how my colleague expressed frustration after
| building system to use rainwater when he realized he
| essentially made mosquitoes resort in his backyard
| wffurr wrote:
| Put mosquito dunks in it and then don't drink it.
| christkv wrote:
| if you have standing water a couple of drops of dish
| detergent in standing water will kill all the mosquito larva
| as the destruction of the water tension by the soap basically
| drowns them (at least that is my understanding).
| xattt wrote:
| Alternately, a layer of oil on top to prevent larva from
| surfacing for air.
| wffurr wrote:
| Or for multi-month protection, Bt mosquito dunks.
| DoingIsLearning wrote:
| What vegetation harbours mosquitos?
| aaron695 wrote:
| [dead]
| mrled wrote:
| Bamboo definitely does.
|
| Anecdote: I live in Texas. We had ~10 feet of bamboo
| against our entire back fence, something like ~70 feet.
| Bamboo isn't native, but grows very fast and provides a lot
| of visual cover, which is nice. In past years mosquitoes
| have been real terrorists, you could often have multiple
| landing on you at once. Nothing we tried made much of a
| dent except good bug spray all over the body and clothes,
| and even that wasn't perfect. They were relentless, often
| landing even on our dog, which surprised me given that he's
| a lab mix and covered in fur. Guests always commented on
| how bad it was.
|
| This year we had a backyard office built, and ended up
| clearing ~10x40 feet of the bamboo for the office. There
| has been a massive difference in the number of mosquitoes
| since the clearing. We often go outside for a long time
| without bug spray at all, I never see them on the dog any
| more, and guests no longer notice the bugs at all. And we
| didn't even remove all the bamboo - we still have about
| 10x30 feet off to the side, and neighbors to both sides and
| behind our backyard still have some.
| CWuestefeld wrote:
| In much of TX - certainly the Austin area - there's been
| a really awful drought, which denies mosquitoes a place
| for their eggs to grow. Are you sure that this isn't the
| cause of your observation?
| xattt wrote:
| Curious, but in your parts, is bamboo synonymous with
| Japanese knot-wood or is it still considered a separate
| plant?
|
| I've got my oldest kid trained to be on the lookout for
| knotwood shoots in our yard. It grows and takes over so
| dann fast.
| jcynix wrote:
| Japanse knotweed's young sprouts are edible, BTW. But,
| depending on your climate, it might sprout faster than
| you can eat it ;-0
|
| https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/plant-problems/weeds/is-
| jap...
| willvarfar wrote:
| (Japanese Knotweed is very distinct from bamboo. It looks
| quite different too.
|
| Pulling up knotweed actually encourages it's spread! So
| don't do that. Google for lots of articles on how to
| determine if you have to treat it (if left alone and not
| pruned it doesn't actually grow fast nor spread; so just
| leave be!) or how to attempt eradicate it e.g. it is near
| a building or drainage.
|
| Good luck!)
| xattt wrote:
| Thanks! I've read reports online about bamboo growing in
| North America, and didn't know if it was actual bamboo or
| the knotweed we have growing in our parts.
|
| It's coming from our neighbour's yard who seem to have
| taken a laissez-faire approach to their yard management.
|
| We're extremely careful not to let it fracture since, as
| you know, that spurs additional growth. In the hard to
| reach parts behind the shed, I did put down landscaping
| fabric with rocks over it.
|
| After being diligent with new shoots in the early spring,
| it slows down significantly come the summer and fall.
| mrled wrote:
| After googling, I don't think I've seen Japanese knot-
| wood before. I have woody stalks and long thin leaves. My
| layman's understanding is that what's in my yard is
| running bamboo.
| jehb wrote:
| I can't answer this question generally, but one example
| that is very close to home is bamboo. (Actually, it's no
| longer close to home. We moved, and despite being very
| close to our old house, have an order of magnitude fewer
| mosquitos.) Water collects in the broken culms, which can
| be very deep, and doesn't go away because they remain
| shaded.
| wffurr wrote:
| Anything that makes a humid, dark under-layer. In our case,
| it's the English ivy ground cover.
|
| After a few minutes searching, this seems like a good
| guide: https://www.gardenguides.com/12588077-ivy-and-
| plants-that-ha... Ivy, violets, tree holes.
| quechimba wrote:
| Mosquito coils are very efficient for keeping mosquitoes away.
| I use them in the rainforest where there's a lot of mosquitoes.
| I light a coil before I go to bed, they last 8 hours. Mosquito
| nets are also efficient to keep them out.
| alehlopeh wrote:
| I bought a Bug-a-salt and it's been awesome for indoor use. It
| actually makes trying to kill bugs fun.
| neals wrote:
| I have a lot of fun with mine, but have found that this
| season, it's not killing the bigger flies anymore. Might it
| lose it's strength?
| mrled wrote:
| The Executioner, basically an electrified tennis racket, is
| really satisfying too.
| tasty_freeze wrote:
| Isn't it a pain to clean up the salt afterwards? It seems
| like hauling out the vacuum to clean up after killing a bug
| would offset any advantage the gun might have.
| Modified3019 wrote:
| Another possible method of fairly environmentally friendly
| mosquito control, is create standing water, as in a barrel of
| water, but put enough dish soap in it to lower the surface
| tension.
|
| Females come by to lay eggs, but instead get sucked in and
| drowned. Any larvae that manage to hatch will likewise drown.
|
| Discovered this when I realized a roommates trash barrel had
| filled with rainwater, and subsequently been infested. I
| couldn't just immediately dump it all over so. A squirt of soap
| and a quick mix with a stick made a graveyard.
| mcronce wrote:
| I haven't found a single "silver bullet" solution, but the
| combination that has worked for me is bat houses + citronella
| (candles as well as whole plants, planted around the
| patio/deck) + the classic electric bug zappers.
|
| We wanted to avoid insecticides because we have a pretty
| significant pollinating bee population that we didn't want to
| harm, but if that's not a concern for you, just carpet bombing
| the yard with pyrethrins is a solid foundation.
|
| I've had good luck with Mosquito Magnets in the past; the only
| reason I'm not using one now is because the bat houses are
| approximately zero maintenance, and I'm a sucker for fire-and-
| forget solutions
| 3abiton wrote:
| A net.
| kiliantics wrote:
| How about a bat box so more bats live in the area and eat the
| mosquitos. Salamanders also eat mosquitos but the materials
| most people use to kill mosquitos, like permethrin,
| unfortunately also kill salamanders.
|
| I am a mosquito magnet too and spend summer in an area that's
| not quite subtropical but is pretty full of them. I find them
| to really just be a minor nuisance at certain times of day
| which I can avoid with the right clothing or staying behind
| screens. And I often don't even bother and just tolerate some
| minor itchiness from their bites. I don't really get all the
| fuss.
|
| Apart from regions with malaria, I don't understand the lengths
| people go to eradicate them, especially since they are usually
| pretty ecologically destructive.
| sdenton4 wrote:
| There's a lovely variety of mosquito-borne diseases, most
| notably malaria and West Nile virus, which lead to a Real Bad
| Time.
|
| I've been helping out a bit in a project for mosquito
| eradication in Hawaii, where avian malaria transmitted by
| invasive mosquitoes is threatening a number of endemic birds
| species with extinction.
| glxxyz wrote:
| Unfortunately bats don't eat many mosquitos as they prefer
| other insects. They should eat a few though.
| cyberpunk wrote:
| Mosquito nets and deet.
|
| Having a partner who they find more delicious than you also
| helps.
| zdragnar wrote:
| Alas, I am that partner. Nothing but DEET works for me.
| ses1984 wrote:
| I got some clothes treated with permethrin and that is just
| as effective as deet for me.
|
| If it's very hot and humid, I still use deet spray, but if
| the weather is cool enough for pants and long sleeves, I'll
| put on my clothes and I'm good to go.
| Tempest1981 wrote:
| Tip: I sprayed some Deet on our door, and it caused the paint
| to bubble.
| klyrs wrote:
| I spilled some DEET on a desk as a kid, and it stripped the
| varnish clean to the wood. Great if you want to take that
| long-procrastinated woodworking project camping?
| mikestew wrote:
| Keep it away from musical instruments if you're outside
| jamming around the campfire: strips the lacquer finish
| right off.
|
| And apparently strips the finish off a lot of things, say
| sibling commenters.
| fogleman wrote:
| Yeah, DEET is a plasticizer. It marred the body of my Canon
| camera after rubbing off of my arm and onto the camera.
| nucleardog wrote:
| You can get picaridin repellants that are as effective as
| DEET and won't do that. It's also way less greasy and
| stinky in general.
| sschueller wrote:
| The one time I was at (many years ago) Disney World Florida I
| was astounded by the lack of any flying insects at lamps etc.
| at night. What ever Disney did or is doing seems to work but it
| might be effectively dropping a nuke on any insect life.
| goda90 wrote:
| Establishing and protecting habitats for bats and dragonflies
| can be a big help.
| [deleted]
| ortusdux wrote:
| Fans help with mosquitoes. They wander around until they detect
| exhaled CO2, and then zigzag their way to the source. An
| oscillating fan helps prevent them from honing in. I've seen
| fans setup at family barbeques at the park.
|
| https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Mosquito_Homing.jpg
| joezydeco wrote:
| Standing fans or ceiling fans on a porch also prevent them
| from landing on you. Never considered the CO2 angle, I just
| thought it blew them off course.
| ortusdux wrote:
| They can't fly all that fast, so blowing them off course
| definitely helps too.
| NDizzle wrote:
| Rural Arkansas, Mosquito HQ checking in.
|
| Dynatraps. Tougher than Toms TNT bait. Gotta have it all out
| there and ready to go when the season gets started - you don't
| want to fall behind.
|
| You can also plant things to attract barn swallows and the
| like, but then you have to deal with them dive bombing you
| every time you go outside anywhere near their nests.
| ekanes wrote:
| Long sleeve shirts & pants. Loose clothing. Goal is to keep
| them away from your skin.
| NoZebra120vClip wrote:
| Sounds like quackery. How about some ASMR to lure them in too?
| FrustratedMonky wrote:
| All animals have some lure. Some miss-match from something with
| a biological drive, to something modern.
|
| On safari in the city habitat, it has always been known you can
| lure the human animal into a trap with some ASMR, moaning, and
| Bacon. Sadly it does not end well for them, most often they are
| subdued with intoxicants and pilfered of their winter stores.
| jstanley wrote:
| > it is found that no matter what the ability of catching
| insects or the consumed power efficiency can be enhanced thus.
|
| "no matter what" ? Let's apply this technique recursively and
| gain infinite enhancement of catching insects or consumed power
| efficiency!
| vosper wrote:
| It's weird, the abstract that you quoted from is so poorly-
| written that bits of it don't even make sense, but then the
| writing in the Introduction section is fine.
| eternityforest wrote:
| Looks the modes almost all kill more of the other bugs than
| mosquitos. The one that doesn't is linear with lens.
| gampleman wrote:
| I wonder if using light to attract mosquitos has a large kill-
| rate for other, more beneficial insects.
| 55555 wrote:
| It does, unfortunately. Look at any light trap
|
| https://www.youtube.com/shorts/C6zmsxnKLD8
| vezycash wrote:
| Place a small animal in the cage giant bug zapping cage (esp a
| dog). You'll catch 100x more mosquitoes
| [deleted]
| NorwegianDude wrote:
| What's up with the abstract? It's as if it was written by a
| terrible LLM.
|
| Just one sentence: > With specific PWM electric signals to drive
| the LED, it is found that no matter what the ability of catching
| insects or the consumed power efficiency can be enhanced thus.
| magicalhippo wrote:
| Not great, but in context it could be made sense of without too
| much difficulty.
|
| Rearranging the sentence and adding a comma improves it
| significantly IMO:
|
| _It is found that no matter what, the ability of catching
| insects or the consumed power efficiency can be enhanced with
| specific PWM electric signals to drive the LED._
|
| More could be done to it of course to improve further.
| jjoonathan wrote:
| Nah, I don't think that's a LLM, I think that's someone who
| speaks English as a second language and has been taught in the
| highly formal UK style.
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