Quick and Dirty Mosquito Trap

• Submitted by sam on Tue, 05/23/2006 - 3:00am.
  
• http://www.diyhappy.com/comment/reply/434
  
• Instructional

How to build a Mosquito trap.

Materials Needed:

2000ml (2 liter) bottle
50 gram (brown?) sugar
1 gram yeast
Thermometer
Measure cup
Knife
Black paper

1. Cut the top of the bottle as shown. When you cut the bottle, don't throw the top part away because that had be needed for step 4.

2. Put 200ml hot water in the bottle, stir with 50gram brown sugar. Put the sugar water in cold water to cool it down til 40C (temperature).

They use a bigger container with cold water - put the small cup that they use to make sugar water in that container and that stick is a thermometer because they want the sugar water to cool down to 40C (temperature).

3. After cooling down, put the sugar water in the bottle then add the yeast.
No need to mix the yeast with the sugar water. When yeast ferments, it creates carbon dioxide.

4. Put back the top of bottle like picture. you see they put the top upside down to fit into the bottle. Carbon dioxide will be released from where we drink the bottle so make sure to seal the edge.

5. Put black paper around the bottle since mosquitos like dark places and carbon dioxide. This mosquito trap will then start working.
Mosquitos fly around the corner, so the best place to place the trap is at some dark corner.

TIPS: Put the trap in some dark and humid place for 2 weeks, you'll see the effect. You'll have to replace the sugar water + yeast solution every 2 weeks.

Here's a link to the original Flickr photos.

Update: The idea is apparently from a school class in Taiwan. They invented the trap through trial and error. Here is a link to the class's website.

Many commenters have noted that this DIY mosquito trap doesn't work in all areas (or on all species of Mosquitos). Check out Mega-Catch mosquito traps for a commercial solution with a wider effectiveness.