Sibrosan1d ago
DB 🌱💦

If you have a bug zapper up, it's time to take it down.

A University of Delaware study analyzed nearly 14,000 insects killed by zappers over one summer. Mosquitoes accounted for less than 1%. The other 99%? Moths, beetles, midges, fireflies, and other beneficial insects.

It's even worse than it sounds: mosquitoes find you by carbon dioxide, body heat, and skin chemistry. Your zapper is completely invisible to them.

Meanwhile it's running all night massacring the pollination night shift.
#Nature #Insects #Bugs #Pollinators

Apr 14 at 1:37amWeb
Show threadiced_spiders1d ago
@dbattistella Why would anyone keep one of these outdoors? That's terrible. I keep one in the house for flies.
Show threadbovaz1d ago
@dbattistella https://archive.org/details/biostor-76681
I think this is the study, for reference.
Density And Diversity Of Nontarget Insects Killed By Suburban Electric Insect Traps : T B Frick : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming : Internet Archive

Internet Archive
Show threadRamnarayan Kalyanaraman1d ago

@bovaz @dbattistella

Thanks for the news, and the article.

I too searched and found the same link, but what stood out , amongst other things is that this study is published in 1996. 3 decades ago. While this method has not changed there are likely newer methods, to kill insects, being used.

Wonder if anything has changed ( presence of insects, population of insects, other (ans alternative) methods and their effectiveness.

Show threadbovaz1d ago
@ramkay @dbattistella those zappers are cheap, and I still see them a lot.
Anecdotally, over the past few years I've seen a lot more "repellents": chemical or natural things you spray around, or those coils you burn. Hopefully those aren't as bad.
Show threadRamnarayan Kalyanaraman1d ago

@bovaz @dbattistella

There is a low cost variation of a zapper in use

A light is in some kind of inverted covered lampside

Bugs get close and slip down or fall into a "trap bucket" . They dont die immediately, they are just trapped and eventually die of "being inescapably" trapped.

The trap buckets are cleaned once in a while, while the light also functions as a regular outdoor light.

Dried Dung has been used forever as a smoke based repellent, chemical ones are both lethal & non lethal

Show threadJonathan Yu1d ago
@ramkay @bovaz @dbattistella 1996 cannot have been three decades ago 😭
Show threadRamnarayan Kalyanaraman1d ago

@jawnsy @bovaz @dbattistella

😂

Show threadbovaz1d ago
@jawnsy @ramkay @dbattistella I think they meant decaliters. "1996 was three decaliters ago", as in they drank 30 liters of, presumably, water since them. So it's less than a month ago, which sounds about right.
Show threadJonathan Yu1d ago
@bovaz @dbattistella @ramkay Thank you, this makes much more sense
Show threadLyrial1d ago
@dbattistella It's anecdotal, I know, but when I clean out my small zappers it is 90% mosquitoes. I suppose it also heavily depends on where you are. I live near a creek and the mosquitoes are very much a problem. I have to clean out the zapper about twice a week and it is entirely mosquitoes. I have a healthy honey bee, wasp, and firefly population here.
Show threadWhiskers 🇦🇺1d ago
@dbattistella Yeah I bought one and only used it once because I saw the problem immediately.
Cowboy traders using popup adverts are selling these things with completely false messaging
Show threaddivVerent1d ago
@dbattistella Admittedly it's different for indoor use. If I already have mosquitoes inside, running a small zapper with light and closing the door did wonders.

But of course, indoors almost no insects are beneficial to begin with.
Show threadBen Evans1d ago
@dbattistella One 30-year old study that implies (but does not state) that they were looking at outdoor zappers, in one small, marshy area of Delaware, with a very small sample size is not much of a data point that can be universally applied.
Show threaddasgrueneblatt1d ago
@kittylyst It's definitely true that those traps don't differentiate between species, and that they are rather bad at catching mosquitos. So why kill many more of the animals that would kill mosquitos if you want fewer mosquitos? Just for the satisfying sound of the kill?
@dbattistella
Show threadBen Evans1d ago
@dasgrueneblatt @dbattistella They seem to do an excellent job of wiping out mosquitos indoors.
Show threadmanchicken1d ago
@dbattistella mosquitoes are also pollinators
Show threadYavo1d ago
@dbattistella Anecdotal evidence or not, anyone who spends more than 10 minutes observing a zapper will notice that mosquitos are not the only insects it affects.
Show threadThe Cheekqualizer1d ago
@dbattistella was this post written by mosquitoes? I don't trust anyone any more
Show threadMatt Palmer1d ago
@dbattistella now I'm imagining a couple of bats saying to each other, "let's pop over to Bob's, he always serves those crispy fried moths".
Show threadSckenai1d ago
@dbattistella They also are killing pollinators.
Show threadmagnus (he/him)6h ago
@Sckenai @dbattistella mosquitoes are pollinators
Show threadBernd Petrovitsch🔴🔴🔴♂️🏳️‍🌈🇦🇹🇪🇺1d ago
@dbattistella oh, man, you were never at the barracks of Oggau, Burgenland, Austria ....
Show threadFElon&Felon47🇺🇦🇨🇦🇩🇰🇹🇼1d ago
@dbattistella If life gives you standing water, pour it out, and dig or set a BIGGER pool of standing water. ADD TADPOLES AND FISH. Enjoy the nightly frog music and fish with healthy mosquito-larvae-boosted fish fat.
Show threadThe Turtle1d ago
@dbattistella we have four in the house. They'll stay. No goddamn place for moths.
Show threadIngrid_DemokratinAusOL1d ago

@dbattistella

SOFORT verbieten und raus aus dem Handel.

Show threadNicholas Stein1d ago
@dbattistella Use BTI instead.
https://www.epa.gov/mosquitocontrol/bti-mosquito-control
Bti for Mosquito Control | US EPA

Bti is used to control mosquito larva. View questions and answers on Bti and its regulation.

US EPA
Show threadSteve Lindsay1d ago
@dbattistella I've never had a zapper, but can you provide a link to the study?