Mosquitoes are more than a mere nuisance — they spread fatal diseases, such as malaria and encephalitis. Can mosquitoes be killed off over large areas without risking damage to the environment? I’m Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.
“In the southern climes, areas of Florida, I’ve read that people used to have whisk brooms on their porch to sweep the mosquitoes off of themselves before they went in the house.”
Bruce Wigton says mosquito control has improved some over the years, but not enough. So his company set out to develop something that would attract large numbers of mosquitoes and kill them, quietly and without the use of pesticides. The first step was to figure out exactly what attracts mosquitoes to the human body.
“Mosquitoes are very, very interesting creatures. We originally thought that they came to humans by infrared heat.”
But according to Wigton, it’s not our body heat that attracts mosquitoes, it’s our breath.
“Carbon dioxide is present in our breath. People have known since about 1920 that carbon dioxide is the major attractant that brings mosquitoes to humans. And they’ve had traps in the field with dry ice and tanks and other ways, but never has it been practical in use in a trap to bring the mosquitoes to itself. And we also have never really known what concentrations of carbon dioxide are good to bring mosquitoes in. The old adage that if some’s good, a lot’s better, doesn’t really work with these animals. If you have too much carbon dioxide it becomes a repellent.”
After testing different levels of carbon dioxide on mosquitoes, Wigton’s company invented the Mosquito Magnet. It’s about the size of a gas barbecue grill, and converts propane into carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide attracts mosquitoes, and a fan sucks them inside the device, where they die. More on the Mosquito Magnet, on our next program. Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation. I’m Jim Metzner.
Mosquito Magnet - History
Carbon dioxide is what attracts mosquitoes to humans, but until recently, nobody knew how to use CO2 in a mosquito trap.
Air Date:07/24/2000
Scientist:
Transcript:
ambience: Mosquito buzzing
Mosquitoes are more than a mere nuisance -- they spread fatal diseases, such as malaria and encephalitis. Can mosquitoes be killed off over large areas without risking damage to the environment? I'm Jim Metzner and this is the Pulse of the Planet, presented by DuPont.
"In the southern climes, areas of Florida, I've read that people used to have whisk brooms on their porch to sweep the mosquitoes off of themselves before they went in the house."
Bruce Wigton says mosquito control has improved some over the years, but not enough. So his company set out to develop something that would attract large numbers of mosquitoes and kill them, quietly and without the use of pesticides. The first step was to figure out exactly what attracts mosquitoes to the human body.
"Mosquitoes are very, very interesting creatures. We originally thought that they came to humans by infrared heat."
But according to Wigton, it's not our body heat that attracts mosquitoes, it's our breath.
"Carbon dioxide is present in our breath. People have known since about 1920 that carbon dioxide is the major attractant that brings mosquitoes to humans. And they've had traps in the field with dry ice and tanks and other ways, but never has it been practical in use in a trap to bring the mosquitoes to itself. And we also have never really known what concentrations of carbon dioxide are good to bring mosquitoes in. The old adage that if some's good, a lot's better, doesn't really work with these animals. If you have too much carbon dioxide it becomes a repellent."
After testing different levels of carbon dioxide on mosquitoes, Wigton's company invented the Mosquito Magnet. It's about the size of a gas barbecue grill, and converts propane into carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide attracts mosquitoes, and a fan sucks them inside the device, where they die. More on the Mosquito Magnet, on our next program. Pulse of the Planet is presented by DuPont, bringing you the miracles of science, with additional support provided by the National Science Foundation. I'm Jim Metzner.