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08/09/06, 07:54 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Gainesville Florida
Posts: 124
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Bug Zappers are Harmful, Not Helpful
From http://www.ipm.iastate.edu/ipm/hortn...bugzapper.html
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Insect electrocuter light traps, also known "bug zappers" have been extensively marketed for the past several years with claims they can provide relief from the annoyance of biting mosquitoes and other pests in your back yard. Their effectiveness has been widely doubted and a few studies have shown they are very poor at killing mosquito females (the sex that bites).
Now comes another study indicating black light traps are not only useless for mosquito, they are potentially harmful to the environment (and not just to the sensitive ears of neighbors trying to sleep next door). Results of a survey of insects caught in an electrocuter black light trap in Newark, Delaware indicate that nearly all of the insects caught are either harmless or beneficial. Pests, and especially biting pests, do not end up in the traps.
According to an article by Timothy Frick and Douglas Tallamy of the University of Delaware published in Entomological News [107(2): 77-82] only 31 insects out of 13,789 trapped and counted (0.22%) in a suburban setting over the course of an entire summer were biting flies. "Biting flies" includes both female mosquitoes and biting gnats.
The largest number of insects (6,670 = 48.4%) were harmless, nonbiting aquatic insects from nearby rivers and streams. These insects, of course, are a vital part of the aquatic food chain and are valuable "fish food." Another important group unfortunately caught in the traps were predators and parasites, that is, biological control organisms such as ground beetles and parasitic wasps that help keep insect pest populations naturally low. Predators and parasites accounted for 13.5% of the insects caught (1,868).
So how good are bug zappers? This study would indicate they are worst than worthless because of the large number of harmless and beneficial insects they kill. Extrapolations calculated by the authors indicate that 4 million bug zappers (4 years worth of approximated sales in the U.S.) operating for 40 nights each summer, would destroy in excess of 71 billion nontarget insects each year. And the number of mosquitoes would still be the same as before. It is clear you should save your money!
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Here's another good link:
http://www.napa.ufl.edu/oldnews/zap.htm
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08/09/06, 08:25 AM
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Join Date: May 2004
Location: Minnesota
Posts: 17,225
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Yeah, they been saying that for some time. I like them as a source of protien for my poultry. My ducks will park under them all night.
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08/09/06, 08:33 AM
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Miniature Horse lover
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Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: West Central WI.
Posts: 21,244
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True and as far as the noise at night JUST how close are These so called neighbors anyway??.
Most of the people have them in the country NOT in the city where houses are back to back. And besides I like to hear the sizzle of the pesky critters I get all sorts of gnats that are annoying as heck to us humans and my horses~!
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08/09/06, 08:36 AM
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Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: NC Arkansas
Posts: 1,742
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all i know is they sure are alot of fun. Got one, woah got another one, wow did you see that one fry. What else are you supposed to do on saturday night besides bathe?
__________________
"The Will of God will never take you to where the Grace of God will not protect you."
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08/09/06, 08:37 AM
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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: WI
Posts: 2,180
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The point tillandsia is trying to make is that these bug zappers don't do any good in decreasing the numbers of pest insects, but have an adverse effect on beneficial insects, so in the long run they will INCREASE the numbers of undesirable insects. The propane/LP mosquito traps/attractors may have some effect on mosquitoes, though, but they are a different kind of outfit.
There have been a number of studies done over the years, and it surprises me that these bug zappers are still being sold.
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08/09/06, 08:45 AM
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Join Date: Feb 2006
Location: Gainesville Florida
Posts: 124
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by WisJim
There have been a number of studies done over the years, and it surprises me that these bug zappers are still being sold.
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There will always be people eager to make a buck off the ignorant! 
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08/09/06, 10:02 AM
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Banned
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 2,322
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We have a lot of corn borer moths here in corn country. The bug zapper seems to get quite a lot of them. So far it doesn't seem to have reduced the population significantly.
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08/09/06, 10:39 AM
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Join Date: Oct 2004
Location: King George, Virginia
Posts: 109
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I'm not so sure, finnally got power down to our hog lot, since we've had so much rain the flies and mosquito's were awful. While rumaging around in basement found the ole bug zapper, stood it in a tree about six foot off the ground near the hog lots, in two days I had a clogged zapper full of burnt mosquito's (maybe a few larger thing here and there) and the population that was there practically is gone. I and my hog's are happier now that we are using this failed technology...Lots of fun watching as well!
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08/09/06, 10:49 AM
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Join Date: Apr 2005
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,504
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by VApigLover
I'm not so sure, finnally got power down to our hog lot, since we've had so much rain the flies and mosquito's were awful. While rumaging around in basement found the ole bug zapper, stood it in a tree about six foot off the ground near the hog lots, in two days I had a clogged zapper full of burnt mosquito's (maybe a few larger thing here and there) and the population that was there practically is gone. I and my hog's are happier now that we are using this failed technology...Lots of fun watching as well!
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I'd have to agree - we have TWO evil bug zappers that are practically full of mosquitoes each night, plus a few moths and june bugs. And the mosquitoes that were attacking us between the hours of dusk to dawn have virtually disappeared.
__________________
"Those who hammer their guns into plowshares will plow for those who do not."
Thomas Jefferson
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08/09/06, 11:08 AM
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Join Date: May 2005
Location: Southeast Ohio
Posts: 1,429
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We got one of these handheld ones on clearance for about $6 http://www.asseenontv.com/prod-pages/bug_zapper.html
Trust me, it's taking out plenty of non-beneficial insects.
Our cow doesn't mind the zapping sound of it now that she's used to it, and we use it to zap flies off her legs. I think she's figured out that the zappy thing means she'll get some attention and that it makes the flies stop biting.
It won't get rid of all of the flies on a homestead, but it brings some nice temporary relief and you can't beat the sense of satisfaction you get from the sizzling sound.
Lynda
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08/09/06, 12:03 PM
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UNIX Weenie
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Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: South-Central Kansas
Posts: 167
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Gone Batty.
How about using Poultry for the day shift, and Bats for the night shift?
Would that keep the bugs down while saving electricity, etc?
We are planning to put up a Bat House when we get to the Homestead, for insect control.
Can't really eat the bats, tho.... 
Still, everything has to have a job, and insect control is a job. 
Edited to add: What kind of birds would be best for the day shift?
__________________
--Arkander--
root@universe> find / -name '*base*' -exec chown -R :us {} \;
root@universe>
Last edited by Arkander; 08/09/06 at 12:05 PM.
Reason: To ask what kind of Poultry would be best for this?
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